Return of the Sheep! - JocMeister(A) vs. MrKane(J)

[Lowpe]

Where is the AAR on the Beer? Surely you had better luck there.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Where is the AAR on the Beer? Surely you had better luck there.

[:D]

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]8th July 42[/font]
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A small consolation...

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SOPAC
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I missed the troop ships but got a small consolation price...

Night Time Surface Combat, near Anatom at 124,161, Range 7,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DMS W-7, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
PB Ginyo Maru
PB Okuyo Maru #2
SC Ch 24
SC Ch 26, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
AV Kamoi, Shell hits 32, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AKE San Francisco Maru, Shell hits 1
AKE Zyunyo Maru
AKE Hokko Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire
AKE Yamahagi Maru, Shell hits 1
AKE Ryuyo Maru
AKE Mansei Maru, Shell hits 2
AD Koshu Maru #2
AKE Nagisan Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire
AKE Yosida Maru #1, Shell hits 1
PB Katsuragisan Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
PB Kaito Maru, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Hitora Maru, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
PB Genmei Maru, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PB Tsuneshima Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CL Achilles
CL Perth, Shell hits 1
DD Woodworth
DD Jarvis
DD Gridley
DD McCall
DD Benham
DD Tucker
DD Litchfield

Something also sinks during the night. Probably PB Tsuneshima Maru. A bit disappointed I didn´t sink more. But I figured the subs might get some of the cripples. They indeed did. No less then 14 duds and no explosions...[8|]

Perhaps they have better luck tomorrow.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]9th July 42[/font]
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SOPAC
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Two more sinking sounds heard during the night.

Tom responds by sending a CA force consisting of 3-4 CAs plus an unknown number of DDs at flank speed straight for Suva. My small CL force had already departed for Pago Pago and escapes certain doom for now. They are almost out of fuel though and I can´t run them at full speed.

So if Tom goes after them at full speed he might catch them.

In a bit of a misfortune Tom finds my CVs that are waiting to meet up with the AP/AKs SE of the Samoans. All of the sudden the area is flooded by 10+ subs. How the heck did he find me?! [X(] This might turn out to be a good thing though as it might reinforce the impression I´m in SOPAC. I moved the CVs further NE and set the transports on a small detour.

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Burma
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Tom sweeps Chittagong with some Oscars. My planes are stood down though and he hits empty space. I´ll put them back up for tomorrow to just in case he comes back.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]10th July 42[/font]
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More sinking sounds! [X(]

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SOPAC
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Toms CAs disappear. Probably headed back to Noumea. My CLs safely reaches Pago Pago. Will head back to Christmas to fix the SYS together with the Detroit and Concord TF. That leaves SOPAC pretty empty but the entire navy is just 3 days out if something occurs. AP/AKs just passed Tahiti. They can juuuust reach the oilers. Will probably need 3-4 days to refuel everyone. So we should be leaving in about 2 weeks.

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PH
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Hmm, I will probably have to start expanding all the bases in Hawaii. PH has almost reached SL limits already. Total SL on all Hawaiian island is only around 400k. That sucks. Won´t be enough in 44-46.

Looks like I will have to use OZ for a staging point even for CENTPAC in this game...

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Burma
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The Oscar sweep came again. Despite them Sweeping above the Hurris max ceiling we whooped them good. [:)]

Morning Air attack on Chittagong , at 55,41

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 59 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 39

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 33
Hurricane IIc Trop x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 32000 feet

11 Oscars for only 3 Hurricanes. No pilots lost. [:)]

[Lokasenna]

Looks like you burned up some xAKs! All those PBs are sunk, BTW. With that many sinking sounds, you probably heard all 4 go down in successive days/phases. Possible that some of the xAKs had fires go out of control as well.

[witpqs]

Hmm, I will probably have to start expanding all the bases in Hawaii. PH has almost reached SL limits already. Total SL on all Hawaiian island is only around 400k. That sucks. Won´t be enough in 44-46.

[:D]

You will find that need sweeps across the Pacific as your forces do. Now you know why IRL the 1st USMC Div spent so much time rebuilding on a crab-infested island!

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Looks like you burned up some xAKs! All those PBs are sunk, BTW. With that many sinking sounds, you probably heard all 4 go down in successive days/phases. Possible that some of the xAKs had fires go out of control as well.

That would be nice! [:)]

ORIGINAL: witpqs
[:D]

You will find that need sweeps across the Pacific as your forces do. Now you know why IRL the 1st USMC Div spent so much time rebuilding on a crab-infested island!

And if I remember correctly they wern´t were fond of the place. Peleliu was it?

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Looks like you burned up some xAKs! All those PBs are sunk, BTW. With that many sinking sounds, you probably heard all 4 go down in successive days/phases. Possible that some of the xAKs had fires go out of control as well.

That would be nice! [:)]

ORIGINAL: witpqs
[:D]

You will find that need sweeps across the Pacific as your forces do. Now you know why IRL the 1st USMC Div spent so much time rebuilding on a crab-infested island!

And if I remember correctly they wern´t were fond of the place. Peleliu was it?

No, I think it was Russell Islands in the Solomons (I might have it confused with Rennel). IIRC they went there twice(!) for R&R.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]13th July 42[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

Things have really quieted down.

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SOPAC
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No more signs of the CA TF and no more sinking sounds.

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Burma
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Nothing.


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China
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I´m starting to regret not abandoning Chunking. I figured I could try and use the level 6 forts there for something good. Instead this turned into a Japanese VP generator.

Ground combat at Chungking (76,45)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 8010 troops, 665 guns, 733 vehicles, Assault Value = 1017

Defending force 102109 troops, 151 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2347

Allied ground losses:
616 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Tom doesn´t even need to risk his troops. He can just continue to gain a small amount of VPs each turn.

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VPs
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Anything moving the scale in the right direction is immediately eaten up by LCU losses in China. 4,4:1 now.

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Reorganization
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I´m finally starting to work some sense into the logistics. As ships return from OZ/SOPAC/CT/PH they are now properly organized after endurance and speed. Urgent need forced me to just send out whatever I had available at the time earlier. Right now there are no urgent supply or fuel that needs to be delivered.

Fuel stocks are not looking good though. To save time I started using up the PH fuel and its now down to only 80k. I have a small stock at Christmas and Pago Pago. Also a small emergency stash at NZ but that will be used up when some smaller convoys make the long journey back to the WC.

Having the fleet in SOPAC has meant a tremendous strain on fuel. I can´t understand how Tom has kept the KB + all those CAs and BBs running. I hope once the fleet leaves SOPAC I can start building up fuel at various locations.

[ny59giants]

Having the fleet in SOPAC has meant a tremendous strain on fuel. I can´t understand how Tom has kept the KB + all those CAs and BBs running. I hope once the fleet leaves SOPAC I can start building up fuel at various locations.

Probably from Tarakan and Balikpapan refineries. When I play Japan, their output of fuel goes to Babeldoab and/or Truk. Maybe some from Japan. I would send about 10 subs to patrol to the west of Truk. Maybe in east to west patrol zones that start about 4 to 6 hexes west of Truk.

It may be late for this game, but I like to build up little Penrhyn Island. The port can go to a 4, but the AF starts at 0(0) that needs to become a size 1 or 2. This allows short legged aircraft to make the trip from Pearl - Johnson - Palmrya - Christmas - Penrhyn - Pago Pago. It can be a relatively safe base for some fuel. Since Canton Island is often captured by Japan, this is a good option, IMO.

Most of your TKs and AOs can make it to Christmas and/or Penrhyn and back to USA without refueling needed. Don't forget to set the TF to "Do Not Refuel." [;)]

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Having the fleet in SOPAC has meant a tremendous strain on fuel. I can´t understand how Tom has kept the KB + all those CAs and BBs running. I hope once the fleet leaves SOPAC I can start building up fuel at various locations.

Probably from Tarakan and Balikpapan refineries. When I play Japan, their output of fuel goes to Babeldoab and/or Truk. Maybe some from Japan. I would send about 10 subs to patrol to the west of Truk. Maybe in east to west patrol zones that start about 4 to 6 hexes west of Truk.

It may be late for this game, but I like to build up little Penrhyn Island. The port can go to a 4, but the AF starts at 0(0) that needs to become a size 1 or 2. This allows short legged aircraft to make the trip from Pearl - Johnson - Palmrya - Christmas - Penrhyn - Pago Pago. It can be a relatively safe base for some fuel. Since Canton Island is often captured by Japan, this is a good option, IMO.

Most of your TKs and AOs can make it to Christmas and/or Penrhyn and back to USA without refueling needed. Don't forget to set the TF to "Do Not Refuel." [;)]

I considered building Penrhyn up for the exact reason you give. But I didn´t have any engineers to spare. I might still do it though just to be able to fly fighters from PH to SOPAC/OZ. Had 2 AKVs run shuttle between PH and Pago Pago.

About the TKs/AOs. Using medium legged xAKs for that right now but I hope to get a proper TK convoy up soon.

[JocMeister]

PS. Sorry for lack of updates. Been away on a christening all day so we only managed two turns today.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]13th July 42[/font]
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Only managed 3 turns yesterday but some odd/interesting news...

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SOPAC
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So, looks like I found the KB? If so why is it disbanded at Noumea of all places? And why disband it? Repair SYS? In other news the I-168 sank Gridley outside Pago Pago.

ASW attack near Niuafo'ou at 140,162

Japanese Ships
SS I-168

Allied Ships
DD Gridley, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
CL Perth
CL Achilles
DD McCall
DD Jarvis
DD Litchfield
DD Tucker
DD Benham

Not sure if anything has changed in DBB lately but I find Jap subs almost impervious to ASW efforts. Even using 4 APDs (4x6 ASW rating and moderate EXP) I simply cannot damage or suppress any subs. Even when helped by CATs to spot them. Tom isn´t even avoiding my ASW TFs. He just sits there until he has run out of TTs shooting at the ASW ships. Lost a couple of APDs/DDs/PCs this way.

I´m going to prioritize air ASW from now. Should have the first batch of NavS/ASW pilots ready soon.

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Burma
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Base expansion is starting to gain momentum. 125 P40Es just moved to the front lines to help the RAF.

[GreyJoy]

AFAIK the allied ASW hasn't been nerfed in DBB at all.
I can assure you that in my game with Erik (the same mod as yours with Tom), the allied ASW is as deadly as it could be even in mid 1942.
I've had many many subs losing their battles with low-experienced allied ships like AMs, AVP/Ds and receiving bad hits to force them to get back home for repairs.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

AFAIK the allied ASW hasn't been nerfed in DBB at all.
I can assure you that in my game with Erik (the same mod as yours with Tom), the allied ASW is as deadly as it could be even in mid 1942.
I've had many many subs losing their battles with low-experienced allied ships like AMs, AVP/Ds and receiving bad hits to force them to get back home for repairs.

No such luck for me though. Mines have been more effective then ASW ships so far.

[JocMeister]

Got a nice little 3500 Euro taxreturn! [&o]

Decided I just had to have one of these:
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5629/s ... index.html

Already running Windows + everything but games on a SSD drive. Now I´ll be able to run AE + tracker straight of a SSD. [:)]

[Lowpe]

I suspect sys damage from probably high speed runs, but the need to conserve fuel is why the CVs are disbanded.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

I suspect sys damage from probably high speed runs, but the need to conserve fuel is why the CVs are disbanded.

Might be a combo of both then. A bit surprised though he decided to park them were I can see them. I´ve been running recon over Noumea from time to time for over a month.

[koniu]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Got a nice little 3500 Euro taxreturn! [&o]

Decided I just had to have one of these:
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5629/s ... index.html

Already running Windows + everything but games on a SSD drive. Now I´ll be able to run AE + tracker straight of a SSD. [:)]

Have SSD from over Year now. New experience when using PC.[:D]
I am also using SSD for tracker and game. What i notice is that all load times go down by 50% or more. Game load in 5 sec now. Especially i notice speed increase with tracker. I think tracer can run even faster but my CPU is probably to slow.

Tracer is Java program. Java consume huge amount or RAM. I noticed decent tracer speed increase when i bought extra memory. Now i have 8GB RAM and all data is loaded to memory, when i had 4GB, HDD was used to load missing data when i was using tracker.