Shall we play a DBB-C game? - CT Grognard vs Arnhem (no CTG pls)

Post descriptions of your brilliant victories and unfortunate defeats here.

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ny59giants
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RE: 5 Mar 1942

Post by ny59giants »

I've landed at various bases on Java when playing Japan and Kali is the best choice, IMO. The AF is nice to have and I can quickly isolate the northern portion of Java for capture first.

If you still have O19 & O20, they are great together to lay mines and you can have them go into the base he is invading to lay mines.

PBYs - I often place a group at Hobart and Sydney to watch for KB raids. When you get a chance, place an Aussie BF at Lord Howe Island. Build up the AF to size 2 and then move PBYs from Sydney here. It also enables you to to shift your short legged fighters from NZ to Australia.
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Arnhem44
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RE: 5 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I've landed at various bases on Java when playing Japan and Kali is the best choice, IMO. The AF is nice to have and I can quickly isolate the northern portion of Java for capture first.

If you still have O19 & O20, they are great together to lay mines and you can have them go into the base he is invading to lay mines.

PBYs - I often place a group at Hobart and Sydney to watch for KB raids. When you get a chance, place an Aussie BF at Lord Howe Island. Build up the AF to size 2 and then move PBYs from Sydney here. It also enables you to to shift your short legged fighters from NZ to Australia.

Hi Michael,

I figured the airfield would be more important to the Japanese player, stack enough merchies carrying supplies with the invasion fleet and they ought to keep you going till you get a bigger port.

I still have the subs but they were caught out of position laying mines elsewhere, O19 did manage to lay about 30 odd mines but I don't think it made a difference. Anyways, that's the last of MkIIDs for the moment, the store's empty.

Between Brisbane and Noumea/Koumac, wouldn't the seas between them be covered pretty good if you've got PBYs out from both sides? I usually put Hudsons on search duty that far south as the game progresses, want the longer legged Cats up front. Thanks for the tip on Lord Howe, I'll plunk a base force there once KB moves out of the neighbourhood.
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Arnhem44
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6 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

6 Mar 1942

China
A shock attack on a stack west of Nanyang catches the lone chinese corps still in the hex after it's compatriots had moved off. It's just about destroyed so I'll be leaving it as a sort of rear guard to annoy any pursuers.

Ground combat at 84,45 (near Nanyang)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 23158 troops, 202 guns, 40 vehicles, Assault Value = 532
Defending force 7068 troops, 30 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 67
Japanese adjusted assault: 779
Allied adjusted defense: 13
Japanese assault odds: 59 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
3510 casualties reported
Squads: 263 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 95 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 19 (6 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Units retreated 1
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
110th Division
32nd Division

Defending units:
92nd Chinese Corps
4th Construction Regiment


DEI
To the main event we go, the night starts off with the super SAG of 6 BBs, 4 CAs, 5 CLs, 9 DDs and a partridge in a pear tree being engaged by the plucky Dutch MTBs but no hits are scored on either side. The SAG proceeds to nuke Batavia until it glows, a DD is reported to have hit a mine in Batavia, die tin can die.

Night Naval bombardment of Batavia at 49,98 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Nagato
BB Kirishima
BB Kongo
CA Kako
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CL Abukuma
CL Natori
CL Nagara
CL Jintsu
CL Naka

Allied Ships
ML No. 432, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
ARD Tandjong Kv-1, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
ARD Tandjong Kv-2, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
ML No. 423, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
xAPc MMS-125, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
678 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 20 destroyed, 39 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 23 (10 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Manpower hits 6
Resources hits 2
Fires 7944 (I told you it glowed)
Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 51
Port hits 21


Daybreak sees the Dutch airforce in action over Kali, before we go further I've got to admit to a noob mistake. My brain froze and I set all the fighters to 100% CAP when I meant to have everything escorting the bombers. Anyways, 30 B-10s are the first to go in and they manage to somehow duck the 30 Zeroes covering the invasion fleet and score a solitary hit on a freighter. Le sigh.

A squadron of Banshees is next but they're slaughtered to a man by the Zeroes. They were my best bet for any damage to be dealt to the shipping. The rest of the raids are by B-10s in 2s and 3s with no hits scored. We go again the next turn, hopefully with the fighters this time. I'm pretty sure the Zeroes will be as thick as flies too.

Palembang falls this turn, I have no idea what's the damage to the facilities like, mouseover is not good, doesn't show any appreciable drop in facility count. So much for mini Fort Palembang.

Sub War
The subs off Kali tag the inbound invasion fleet but can't do anything to slow it down.

In today's thank-your-lucky-stars moment, Spearfish was inbound to Auckland for more extensive repairs after having patched herself up at Suva when she stumbled across KB, KB was picked up on the morning pulse by Cats out of Suva and is now somewhere between NZ and Suva and still heading east. This little jaunt of KB is seriously putting a dent on my shipping schedule, I have about a dozen convoys converging on the Suva-Pago Pago area which are constantly shuffling back further east with each sighting of the KB. Could be worse I guess, at least it's not Darwin part 2 hey? :p
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7 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

7 Mar 1942
SIGINT
11th Indpt Infantry Regiment is planning for an attack on Lanchow.

DEI
The Zero cover over Kali has almost doubled to 52 and the Dutch AF smashes itself against this fighter cover in vain attempts to get through to the invasion fleet. I lose a total of 26 B-10s, 8 Swordfish and 2 B-339s. I'm standing down the Dutch AF for the next turn or two to reorg, no point rushing now, Kali is under new management as of this turn.

Also, the Formidable made a move towards inshore on the south side of Java to get in position for a strike on the invasion fleet come daybreak, for some reason she didn't launch her bombers and now she's been detected (9/9 DL) so I'm moving back out to sea for a day and then heading home to Colombo, 18 TBs with Fulmars and 6 Hurricanes flying cover ain't gonna get me anywhere. I'll bring her back when the heat has down.

SWPAC
KB lets loose on Suva, I left a couple of the lower capacity merchies in port to keep CTG happy. Am still keeping a close eye on where it goes the next turn.

Afternoon Air attack on Suva , at 132,160
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
B5N2 Kate x 17
D3A1 Val x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 5 damaged
D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
xAP Mungana, Bomb hits 2
xAK Lorrain, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Momba, Bomb hits 1, on fire
ACM YP-401, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Tamara, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Nicarata, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Elisavet, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
17 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
6 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb


Sub War
K XIII takes a shot at the DD that was damaged by a mine at Kali but all 4 shots miss. Drat! Sargo is DCed as she tries to engage the invasion TF at Kali.

Sturgeon encounters her 2nd convoy in 3 days out of Shanghai, HRs prevent me from doing so otherwise I'd divert some of the longer legged Dutch subs to camp off Shanghai.

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RE: 7 Mar 1942

Post by BBfanboy »

Looks like he is conserving his torps as the Kates used bombs in the Suva attack.
Also noticed that no Kates were shot down. In my experience Vals are much easier to shoot down than Kates [even when in low and slow torpedo mode], even though Kates are a larger target and not as manoeverable as Vals. Wonder where they get their toughness?
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
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RE: 7 Mar 1942

Post by KenchiSulla »

Nicely written AAR Arnhem.. Learning from you for my Allied campaign. Working on turn 2 now and it feels as if I am learning and playing a totally different game!

AKA Cannonfodder

"It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say. It can happen, and it can happen everywhere.”
¯ Primo Levi, writer, holocaust survivor
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RE: 7 Mar 1942

Post by ny59giants »

Since you are in March '42, have you upgraded your Dutch air units??
You get P40s, Hurricanes, and B-25s. It may not be much, but better airframes should help a little.
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RE: 7 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Looks like he is conserving his torps as the Kates used bombs in the Suva attack.
Also noticed that no Kates were shot down. In my experience Vals are much easier to shoot down than Kates [even when in low and slow torpedo mode], even though Kates are a larger target and not as manoeverable as Vals. Wonder where they get their toughness?

Yeah, now that you mentioned it, the strike was a little light in numbers too. He is pretty deep behind the lines so I guess he's keeping most of his stuff back in case there are more threatning er, threats than merchies.
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RE: 7 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder

Nicely written AAR Arnhem.. Learning from you for my Allied campaign. Working on turn 2 now and it feels as if I am learning and playing a totally different game!


Mate, I can't even begin to list the number of snafus I've made in this game, I'm pretty disappointed with the Darwin episode and my use of the Dutch AF to name two, who are you playing against? Reckon the one piece of advice I could give would be not to fritter away your ABDA assets needlessly, balancing action with force preservation
would be key to keeping any advances in southeast Asia honest. You're playing a DBB game iirc? Who you up against? Dennishe?
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RE: 7 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Since you are in March '42, have you upgraded your Dutch air units??
You get P40s, Hurricanes, and B-25s. It may not be much, but better airframes should help a little.

The Demon squadron has been converted to Hurris but not in time to join in the fracas of the past 2 days, the other squadron that converts to Warhawks is waiting for more P-40s, will husband everything I have left to maybe strike at Palembang once I know his tankers have setup regular convoys and he gets lulled into a state of security. Bet he won't expect that. Can hardly do worse than banging my head on the obvious targets in Java.
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RE: 7 Mar 1942

Post by BBfanboy »

ORIGINAL: Arnhem

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder

Nicely written AAR Arnhem.. Learning from you for my Allied campaign. Working on turn 2 now and it feels as if I am learning and playing a totally different game!


Mate, I can't even begin to list the number of snafus I've made in this game, I'm pretty disappointed with the Darwin episode and my use of the Dutch AF to name two, who are you playing against? Reckon the one piece of advice I could give would be not to fritter away your ABDA assets needlessly, balancing action with force preservation
would be key to keeping any advances in southeast Asia honest. You're playing a DBB game iirc? Who you up against? Dennishe?

I think you are too hard on yourself about the Darwin misfortune. Although I am leery of using Darwin as a safe port early on, I have never seen the Japanese get lucky enough to come from both sides and trap me. I think your CTG admitted he didn't know where your escaping ships had gone and he just happened to try a raid on Darwin before going home.
AIR, you made some gutsy stabs at trying to catch some of his ships in a night action just before they had to retire to Darwin. Didn't work out but I had to admire your chutzpah!
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
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8 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

8 Mar 1942

China
A stack of understrength units on the road to Sian is pushed back this turn. More worryingly, I seem to have lost a dot base and not noticed it till now. Pukang/Putang or something or other is a dot case due east (true) of Chungking. It seems CTG has snuck in at least 1 LCU and bagged the place, it's a dot base so he'll have to build it up, it seems the CAF will come into play much earlier than I would like, I'll have to keep that base locked down until I get an army or two up there to boot whoever is there out. Blasted PBEM players, why can't they play according to my plan?

Ground combat at 84,43 (near Nanyang)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 12378 troops, 98 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 389
Defending force 2362 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 43
Japanese adjusted assault: 178
Allied adjusted defense: 28
Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), morale(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1073 casualties reported
Squads: 28 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 21 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
36th Division

Defending units:
15th Chinese Corps
5th New Chinese Corps
24th Group Army



DEI
The plucky Dutch MTBs are at it again this turn and do much better this round. For the loss of one of their own they cause a couple of collisions and torpedo 2 freighters, I'll spare you the combat report spam but most of the merchies were well screened.. Check out the force composition, what I'd give to have Boise around.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Kalidjati at 50,99, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Oshio
DD Shiratsuyu
DD Shigure
DD Hatsuharu
DD Nenohi
DD Hatsushima
DD Wakaba
DD Yugure
DD Ariake
DD Hibiki
DD Ikazuchi
DD Inazuma
DD Shinonome
DD Shirakumo
DD Asagiri
DD Sagiri
DD Yugiri
DD Ushio
DD Mikazuki
DD Yakaze
DD Tachikaze
DMS W-1
DMS W-5
DMS W-6
DMS W-10
DMS W-16
DMS W-17, heavy damage
PB Chosa Maru
PB Eifuku Maru
PB Eiko Maru
PB Sozan Maru
PB Tatsumiya Maru
PB Aso Maru #7
PB Nako Maru #2
PB Naruto Maru #3
PB Tokotsu Maru
SC Ch 10
SC Ch 11
SC Ch 12
xAK Zenyo Maru
xAK Johore Maru
xAK Kotoku Maru
xAK Fushimi Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Toho Maru
PB Eiko Maru #2
PB Hakakisan Maru
PB Ikuta Maru
xAK Sinsei Maru
xAK Tatuha Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Totori Maru
xAK Kinsyu Maru
xAK Meisan Maru
xAK Izan Maru
xAK Taian Maru

Allied Ships
TM-4
TM-10
TM-11
TM-12, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
TM-13
TM-14

Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway
Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 64% moonlight: 12,000 yards
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 9,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 9,000 yards
Block T. gains tactical advantage


Sub War
Gar, one of the subs on picket duty to the south of Truk shoots and duds on a TK

SWPAC
Here's a shot of KB as of this turn. Nav search shows 4 CVs, assuming my Cat pilots know how to count that means I might soon be in trouble in another part of the map, my worry here is the other 2 have made a run somewhere where I've got heavy merchant traffic, on the other hand I'm pretty sure he doesn't know where my CVs are and running around with just 2 CVs when you don't know where the other 4 enemy ones are is just asking for trouble and I don't think CTG is anywhere near silly enough to risk his assets in such a cavalier manner.

If I had to hazard a guess I would pick the IO as the most likely area since he probably is betting on me not sending the American CVs all the way across the map. The IO is relatively empty except for Colombo and that can be fixed pretty quickly, have redeployed what naval search assets I have in the IO to cover the approaches to Colombo, we'll just have to see where they turn up next.

Another scenario is the other 2 could be playing anvil to the 4 hammers, highly unlikely as mentioned before the location of my CVs are at best fuzzy for him and why operate divided in such close proximity to each other if there's a threat out there large enough to overwhelm the smaller part of your force? I'm probably reading too much into a sighting report, we'll see if it's still the same number of decks in the next turn's search report.

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RE: 8 Mar 1942

Post by BBfanboy »

Not sure of the upgrade schedule for Japan's CVs, but that is another possibility for the absence of two. Even without upgrades, CVs tend to accumulate system damage on their long cruises and it takes about two days to fix one point of sys damage on them.
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9 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

9 Mar 1942

SIGINT
65th Brigade is planning for an attack on Derby.

So that's one regiment planning for Darwin and a brigade for Derby, SIGINT has done right by me so far in this game so I'm now treating this as a probable event, am looking at what assets I can send over to Oz, that is one huge country.

DEI
Well, well, lookee here. 3 CVs escorted by 4 DDs just off Denpasar and heading west, I'm thinking he's probably trying to see if he can catch Indomitable, I wonder if this is the CVLs or the 'missing' CVs? Combination of both maybe? CTG must feel pretty confident to wander around with a relatively light escort, let's see how far he sticks his neck out, at the very least this will be a worthwhile target to die for for the remnants of the Dutch AF, better than waiting for Zeroes to smack me out of the sky. I've also got a Brit cruiser force (2 CA, 2 CL) at Perth that I'm sending north.

SWPAC
KB is now one hex SW (true) of Pago Pago and still heading east. Her oilers have to be somewhere, I've got Cats out of Luganville, Noumea, Koumac, Canton and Palmrya searching the area but so far empty seas except for KB.

Afternoon Air attack on Pago Pago , at 148,161
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 112 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 33
B5N2 Kate x 34
D3A1 Val x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
D3A1 Val: 7 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
17 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
17 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
6 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb


Sub War
O 21 puts the damaged Urakaze out of her misery as the latter struggles to reach Singapore after hitting a mine at Kali.

Allied Sub killboard
K XIV - AK Sakura Maru (6,840t)
O 20 - xAP Taizan Maru (3,380t), PB Hirota Maru (2,780t)
O 23 - xAP Manzyu Maru (5,830t)
S-38 - xAK Gyoun Maru (1,900t), xAK Kikuryu Maru (1,900t)
K XV - xAK Nojima Maru (3,425t)
Sargo - xAK Gosei Maru (3,425t)
Swordfish - xAKL Yamatsuru Maru (1,650t), xAKL Muko Maru (1,650t)
Seadragon - xAKL Kanjo Maru (1,650t), xAKL Tamaki Maru (1,650t)
O 21 - DD Urakaze (2,553t)
Perch - DD Sazanami (2,090t)
S-34 - xAKL Kanaiyama Maru (1,650t)
Tarpon - TB Manazuru (775t)

Probable
xAK Kogyo Maru (torp hits 2, hvy fires/dmg, 07/12/41-Kota Bahru 53,74) - K XI
xAK Tamon Maru (torp hit 1, on fire, 12/12/41-Laoag 80,72) - S-38
xAP Rakuyo Maru (torp hit 1, hvy dmg, 21/01/42-Oosthaven 49,96) - Seadragon
xAK Kano Maru (torp hit 1, hvy fires/dmg, 06/02/42-Oosthaven 49,96) - S-38
xAK Kinugasa Maru (torp hit 1, hvy fires/dmg, 11/02/42-Oosthaven 49,96) - K XI
xAK Azuma Maru (torp hit 1, hvy fires, 11/02/42-Pontianak 54,90) - K X

In other news
A VMF and VMSB have attained carrier trained status.

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RE: 9 Mar 1942

Post by ny59giants »

Look to place a small BF and Construction unit on Penrhyn between Pago Pago and Christmas Island to expand the base and place a PBY unit here, when able. This will help close a potential hole in your search arcs.
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RE: 9 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Look to place a small BF and Construction unit on Penrhyn between Pago Pago and Christmas Island to expand the base and place a PBY unit here, when able. This will help close a potential hole in your search arcs.

Wouldn't Penrhyn be a little too far behind the lines for comfort? Ideally to cover the gap between PH and Suva I'd place the PBYs at Johnston, Palmrya, Canton, Baker, Vaitupu/Funafuti and maybe Wallis/Hoorn Islands. I suppose it's a question of how near the front you want to run the supply convoys?
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RE: 9 Mar 1942

Post by ny59giants »

I keep forgetting that some Japanese players don't capture Canton and Baker. These are more for trip wires and to allow access into the Allied SLOC. Yours will work if he allows you that much of the Central/South Pacific in Allied hands. With KB already operating down there, you might need this island slightly developed if your opponent learns how to do raids in the future. I know you don't have the BF and construction now, but those SeaBees (SB) will be coming out in numbers soon enough.
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10 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

10 Mar 1942
Quiet turn.

SIGINT
39th Division is planning for an attack on Changsha.

Sub War
Picket subs off Singapore pick up the 2 Kali invasion convoys moving back to Singapore, the thought occurred to me this morning that with all the tonnage I've seen deployed for the Java invasion, any subsequent invasion of Australia will see at least this amount of shipping, if not more, if CTG falls into a pattern then the presence of large convoys made up of Marus and combatants will surely point to an incoming invasion fleet, will have to start thinking about redeploying the longer legged subs to keep an eye out on Singapore, Manila and Soerabaja to give me some sort of early warning.

In other news
The SWPAC KB, which we'll start calling KB1 from now on is still heading east, while KB2 has continued NW from Denpasar. They're plodding along at a constant 8 hexes per turn.

The fact that KB1 has been moving at a constant speed ever since it started it's tour of the Allied front lines and rear areas has allowed me to herd everything at a safe distance away from it, its has now come to the point that if KB1 carries on her course she'll catch the first straggler convoy in the next 2 turns, albeit at extreme range of her bombers. I've thus set the convoys closest to her to start moving northeast while the front runners continue east for the next turn. I know I'm tempting fate here as all KB has to do is go to flank for a turn and she'll have more targets than ordinance but I feel confident I can keep ahead of KB1 comfortably, famous last words perhaps but we'll see. The American CVs are near Palmrya, about 2 days sailing distance north of KB1, I'm going to send the 2 Lexingtons home for rest and refit together with the most beat up of the carrier screen while moving the 2 Yorktowns west towards Baker to see if I can sniff out his tanker support.

As for KB2, the presence of TKs is a little odd, just where is this TF going? I initially thought it was to chase off Indomitable. If KB disappears out of range of my search planes I'm emptying Colombo the next turn. For now, the Dutch AF is going to take a crack at KB2 on the next turn, the best case scenario is all I have to deal with is the organic fighter complement on board the CVs, worse case, and I'm expecting this, is there'll be LRCAP from Kali and Oosthaven, both within easy flying distance. Either way, it's a much better use of the Dutch AF than I could have hoped for. Subs camping Kali and a couple of others from out of Soerabaja and nearby are making speed runs to the intended path of KB2 to see if they can get lucky. The British cruiser force out of Perth is making it's way up, conserving fuel in case I can make a surface intercept.

Hornet arrives on the map. She'll make her way to PH to before joining her 2 sisters assuming the latter 2 are still out at sea looking for a chance to make a nuisance of themselves.

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Location: Singapore

RE: 9 Mar 1942

Post by Arnhem44 »

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I keep forgetting that some Japanese players don't capture Canton and Baker. These are more for trip wires and to allow access into the Allied SLOC. Yours will work if he allows you that much of the Central/South Pacific in Allied hands. With KB already operating down there, you might need this island slightly developed if your opponent learns how to do raids in the future. I know you don't have the BF and construction now, but those SeaBees (SB) will be coming out in numbers soon enough.

Got a point there, life would be much more miserable if Canton and Baker weren't mine. CTG hasn't been aggressive in terms of seizing territory after the initial round of invasions in Dec/Jan but that can easily change. I suppose I should pay a little more attention to fortifying the dead zone between Suva and PH, the bases are building up nicely and the starting American bases have a nice stockpile of supplies by now so it's just a question of fortifying them.
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ny59giants
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RE: 9 Mar 1942

Post by ny59giants »

I strongly urge that you put a Marine fighter group (18 planes) on Hornet and your other American CVs, if you haven't done so yet. Having 45 fighters helps your survivability per CV. You have a small window if opportunity presents itself in May/June to take on KB with all 6 American CVs if set up this way and throw in a few British CVs. Some Japanese players don't add on extra planes before the July 1st re-sizing.
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