Grudge Match

[BBfanboy]

If KB disappears tomorrow, suspect a sprint toward PM to trap your carriers in the pocket. KB without Kaga should be able to
sprint 19 hexes a day, maybe even 20.

[John B.]

BB good tip, but I might welcome that fight. the Akagi is gone (as well as three light carriers) so if he also stripped off the Kaga he'd be down to four fleet carriers vs. 5 US and I'd be in range of land based fighters whereas he would not. It would present a very interesting choice!

[John B.]

The good the bad and the ugly. The good is that Morseby has been reinforced! Another brigade, two tank battalions, three artillery regiments and more aviation support. It's supply level it up to about 73,000 so it's going to be a real tough nut for him to take. Still no progress for him in China so that continues well. I also managed to catch an AP and a CM in one of his small island invasions with two Dutch CLs. He launched an assault at Clark Field that cost him more than 70 squads.

The bad is his $(EY%# submarines. Especially the submarine I-160. It got through my destroyer screen like a knife through butter and put two torpedoes into the Enterprise!! [:@] This initiated two ammo storage explosions. Now, two days later, it is in cooktown with a level 44 fire and 87 flotation damage. One minor bonus was that by making it into port I was able to save the squadrons. And, I'm surprised it made it this far. I don't know if it will survive since there are no facilities there but it has not sunk yet. Fingers crossed! As for the I-160 the very next naval phase it put one torpedo into the Saratoga. The only upside is that this one did minor damage. But, come on ASW, do your job! Don't be asleep at the switch.[>:] I'm glad that the KB was not around. We're already gathering up evidence to charge the crew of the I=160 with warcrimes.

Speaking of the KB, he used it to destroy my invasion of Baker Island. He bombed me several times and landed an entire regiment to capture my defense battlion and base force. I'm a bit surprised at the level he used and even more glad that the KB was not at Moresby to take advantage of the submarine debacle.

The ugly is Soerbaja and Pegu. Soerebaja did not put up much of a fight and surrendured after just three assaults. Lame! I gathered four divisions at Pegu and lots and lots of artillery and finally launched an assault. The result was the loss of 256 squads (plus tanks and artillery) for barely any loss to the IJA. So, I guess we just hold the line in Burma since I don't think I can make any real progress there.

Say a prayer for the Enterprise!

[BBfanboy]

Ouch, ouch, ouch! Make it stop! [:@]
Oh, wait, it will stop when I-160 runs out of torps after, say, two more attacks.

The attack on Baker and seeming abandonment of Port Moresby support is great news for you. It seems he is not thinking strategically since PM is far
more important to isolating Australia than Baker Island is. His search range is extended but that is about all. It will soon be isolated. He may try to
put an AS there so if you can attack the port you may get a bonus.

[John B.]

Quick update on the Enterprise doesn't look good. It has stopped taking on water but the fires burn ever brighter. Up to 55 level fires even though it's in port. May be saying good bye to the Big E. [:(] Not much else to report. the Chinese are slapping around a couple of IJA brigades for fun. The real mystery is the KB. It has been off the radar for more than 8 days. Either Scott is doing a big upgrade or he's up to something sneaky. The rest of my carriers can do a quick turn around in Sydney if I put off the June upgrade on the Saratoga and Lexington so we're not out of the fight. I just wonder what he's up to.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Quick update on the Enterprise doesn't look good. It has stopped taking on water but the fires burn ever brighter. Up to 55 level fires even though it's in port. May be saying good bye to the Big E. [:(] Not much else to report. the Chinese are slapping around a couple of IJA brigades for fun. The real mystery is the KB. It has been off the radar for more than 8 days. Either Scott is doing a big upgrade or he's up to something sneaky. The rest of my carriers can do a quick turn around in Sydney if I put off the June upgrade on the Saratoga and Lexington so we're not out of the fight. I just wonder what he's up to.

Looks to me like a bad die roll on the Big E fires. Allied DC on a disbanded ship usually can handle fires under about 75. Fingers crossed for next turn!

If I were your opponent I would be looking for Enterprise right now anywhere between Aukland and PH. One possibility for KB's activities.

[John B.]

Alas BB Fanboy, the bad die rolls just kept coming. The fire level on the big E went to 77 and then up to 96. On that turn discretion was the better part of valor and I scuttled her in port. It saved me about 30 VPs but it was still a sad choice to make. [:(] So, we've each lost a fleet carrier and he's down 4 CVL/CVEs right now. I am glad I save the Big E's flight crews and her captain.

It's been a few turns and nothing too exciting has happened. I did use the Brit CVs for one more raid before they need to go back to Europe and caught a small Japanese task force off of sumatra that was mopping up the tiny islands there. By the after action report it seems a combat unit went down with them. Also, the dutch CLs at Darwin picked off a couple of Japanese AKs that were doing mini invasions north of Darwin.

The KB has finally reappeared and it is heading southwest from Tulagi. It may be aimed at Efate (sp?) where I have a brigade and a CD unit. Not sure if it heralds an invasion as I don't see transports with it, but it's nice to know where it is and to see it burning fuel. As you may recall from the first days of the war, I sacrificed many CAs and DDs to take a shot at the KB. Not much happened to the KB itself but intel reports that he lost 3 of his AOs. So, his strategic reach may be limited.

Going around the horn quickly, Moresby has been reinforced and if the KB heads south I may be able to run more troops in as well. Suva has two NZ brigades plus other odds and ends. Noumaea is a weak link as it has no combat troops. I had reinforcement convoys heading that way but they've rerouted to Brisbane until the KB situation sorts itself out. Still a stalemate at Rangoon and I'm rotating troops out of the line to rest them and raise their morale. Lots of supply in Rangoon and another supply convoy will run through so I can take advantage of the AVG before it leaves the game. China continues to be a stalemate. I picked off a brigade near the Vietnam border but no major fights.

Sub war is going ok given the crappy torpedoes. Right now they bounce off the TKs and explode on the AKLs. Go figure.

One question, how to you move someone to TRACOM? I have several eligible pilots in the AVG but it won't let me transfer them to TRACOM. Is that just an AVG thing?

[BBfanboy]

My understanding is that TRACOM does not come into existence until 1943. When it does, I presume there will be an option to transfer pilots there
in the same way you do for Group pool and Reserve pool.

P.S. - some players put their best pilots in the Reserve Pool just to keep them alive until the Allies get aircraft worthy of their skills.

[John B.]

Ah, that would explain the lack of options for TRACOM. I want to save my good AVG pilots so I may just tuck them into reserve until then.

But, more things are afoot in the game. Moresby is on fire. A huge number of IJN ships have made their appearance with the KB just one hex off shore. I saw them coming and mobilized two groups of PT boats. They took down two PBs and put a torpedo into a BB (reports say the krishima). There does not seem to be much damage to the BB but still fun. They also ran into the KB and despite short range did not score any hits.[:(] The SS-45 did put 4 (yes 4) torpedos into a CL that turned turtle and rolled over. [&o]In the meantime Banshees sank one DWS and it looks as if shore support has sunk another. Scott has dialed up maximum effort on reducing the runway but his first flight of Vals was shredded losing 15 planes and damange to another 15. Alas he paid me back with 44 zeros in CAP over the KB that shot down 12 Banshees. He dropped a lot of ordinance on the airfield without much damage. But, I anticipate a shore bombardment from BBs soon so I've taken my flyable planes back to Oz. I do have 3 CAs with escorts lurking in Carins. If his BBs shoot and go home I may try to find the KB for a night dance.

I also have four CVs in Sydney. I did not do the June upgrades for Lex and Sara so that they would be ready. I have ASW scouring for sub just off the coast and next turn my carriers will sail north. Let him exhaust his crews and sockpiles of bombs on the KB and we may have ourselves a battle up there. [:D]

I've got a maximum effort on in Rangoon as a huge supply convoy heads in. about 100 fighters but, alas many of them are green. It will be the AVGs last song as they get withdrawn in about two weeks. He has stepped up bombing of Pegu which makes me suspect an incipient attack there. And, Clark Field continues to hold out. Two deliberate assualts in two days has cost the IJA almost 200 squads with commensurate losses in guns and vehicles. There is no more fort there and there is literally no supply but every squad I kill reduces his net VP gain by that much more. Stay tuned. More Moresby News in the offing.

[John B.]

As you can see, there is a whole truckload of IJN ships in and around Moresby. He needs to land supplies and I have reinforced my artillery there which, I hope, should result in more transport losses for him. I have three squadrons (one blenheim and two marauder) set on night bombing so who knows, they might get lucky. But, the moon is only at 3% so most likely not.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

My understanding is that TRACOM does not come into existence until 1943. When it does, I presume there will be an option to transfer pilots there
in the same way you do for Group pool and Reserve pool.

P.S. - some players put their best pilots in the Reserve Pool just to keep them alive until the Allies get aircraft worthy of their skills.

Update - Without looking for it, I got some new info on this. My game is Scenario 1 and the Game Date is July 25, 1942.
I was standing down a pilot with 81 Experience to rest in the Squadron pool, and when I Right Clicked on his name I was offered the chance to
send him to TRACOM. So maybe it starts up as soon as you have pilots with 80+ Experience.

[John B.]

Well, the IJN continues off the coast of Port Moresby and he has been unloading troops and supplies. The American carriers are steaming north and there may be a carrier batter very soon. But, before that, I noticed with my PT boats that his carriers did not have significant escorts, so, two CAs, two CLs and 4 DDs are leaving cooktown and heading for a rendezvous with destiny. They are going full steam and then heading home. There is 0% moonlight but four of my ships have SS radar and I hope that can prove the edge. I keep missing his carriers and my mines don't seem to work but I keep on pushing.

There was a huge air battle off Rangoon. the inexperienced Tenth airforce P-40 squadrons got shredded, but, they got payback with the brits getting through and shooting down more than 10 Betties. The supply convoy made it through but I really don't have many fighters left at Rangoon. British CAs did bombard Moulmein (and there was an air raid on Chang Mai) and I caught a number of his planes on the ground.

Not much in China.

Stay tuned about Moresby!!

[John B.]

As you can see, the surface task force is heading to where the CVs are. Wish them luck and hope they can get away. they have the speed to make it back to the air umbrella over Cook Town.

[BBfanboy]

Surface TFs don't often succeed in intercepting a Carrier TF, but this one is trapped against the coast of NG.
Good Luck!

[John B.]

And luck there was. As you can see from the combat report below, the brave lads of the cruiser task force found the KB in the rain with zero moonlight and put holes in at least three IJN carriers. [&o] I lost the DD Sands but I think that may be worth the price. I don't know how badly damaged the Zuikaku and the Shokaku are but there was an ammo storage explosion on the first and on the second one took a torpedo and 4 shell hits (at least two of which penetrated armor). I think the KB is running away but there is a boatload of ships (pun intended) still in Moresby unloading. the American KB is steaming north of Brisbane. I don't think it will catch up to the KB (too bad) but I might be able to remove some IJN APs from the order of battle. And, with the KB steaming away I've started to load a division in Townsville for my own transport to Moresby. He has a lot there (three divisions) but I think they have bad morale as their reported casualties from bombardment have gone up.

I also activated three PT boats in Morseby who ran out and sank an AP before heading for Cairns.

It was also a good allied turn at Rangoon. I bombarded Moulmein again and destroyed several planes on the ground. His sweep/attack coordination did not work so well over Rangoon and he lost several Bettys and Nells to a small CAP with no loss of ships so there is going to be plenty of supply in Burma. All in all a good allied turn!
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[John B.]

As you can see, both the Zuikaku and Shokaku were reported to be on fire after the fight. I'm not sure how damaged they are and they are both capable of moving but there was an ammo explosion on at least one of them so they should be out of the fight for awhile but let's hope at least one of them sinks. Also note the role radar played. I saw him at 15,000 yards on a rainy night with no moonlight and then again at 8,000 yards that let me get into range to start blasting away. And, the allied gunfire was not too bad with a total of about 13 shell hits on the carriers in what was basically two rounds of combat.

[Bif1961]

[&o] Congrats on your rainy night surface intercept. I guess he is feeling the pressure but you were wise to spot the lack of escorts and assign ships with radar when visability was 0%.

[HansBolter]

Well done!

I have intercepted the KB at Pearl on day 2 before and been frustrated as my ships fire on escorts and never seem to target the carriers.

With a single BB and 3 destroyers as the only escort for 5 carriers there was almost no doubt about CVs getting targeted.

Your opponent left his carriers with woefully inadequate protection.

[Capt. Harlock]

And, the allied gunfire was not too bad with a total of about 13 shell hits on the carriers in what was basically two rounds of combat.

Nice work! (have you had any response from your opponent yet?)

Even more impressive considering none of the three CL's was a first-string model.

[pontiouspilot]

I nailed KB (sank Akagi and mauled Zuikaku) after they danced around Pearl too long but that was with several CAs and Helena class CLs……..this is quite the result! The experience from my game led me to ask this group what the proper protection is? The answer seemed to be having a surface combat TF tagging along. Supposedly the ships will perform better…..seems a little silly to me but John B and I aren't complaining.