Best Two Out of Three

Post descriptions of your brilliant victories and unfortunate defeats here.

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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by BBfanboy »

Does he have any D/L on your carriers? If so, he will skedaddle east and send his SCTFs and subs hunting your CVs.
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

I have kept checking and don't know of any D/L on my carriers. I've had other ships in that vicinity that have not reported search plane sightings and there have not been any sub sightings. He has rushed down to Darwin and not built up an air field support system yet so he may have limited search capacity.

To Capt. Harlock's point, there is no way I'd face the KB right now or even part of the fleet carriers. But, they have been reliably reported as being a day north of New Caledonia. Given that this appears to be escort and light carriers my planes (though inferior) should be able to overwhelm him and, if that's the case, not only frustrate his Darwin adventure but also slow him down in the DEI with its oil. The fact that I'm close to Darwin also means that my land based Banshees can join in and I have a large friendly airfield nearby so my carrier planes and pilots can land if disaster strikes.

We shall see.
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by HansBolter »

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock
The mini KB came back so now is as good a time as any to spring the trap (and hope that the trap is not being sprung on me). Come the air phase I should be in range of his carriers with three fleet carriers against his various escorts. I should outnumber him by quite a number in the air.

Well, I'm rooting for you, but January strikes me as too early for carrier to carrier action. Of course, Coral Sea was done before the Wildcat, Avenger, and 40 mm flak upgrades, so it might just work.

Yea, he really needs to get within 4 hex range to enable the TBDs to fly with fish.
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by BBfanboy »

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock
The mini KB came back so now is as good a time as any to spring the trap (and hope that the trap is not being sprung on me). Come the air phase I should be in range of his carriers with three fleet carriers against his various escorts. I should outnumber him by quite a number in the air.

Well, I'm rooting for you, but January strikes me as too early for carrier to carrier action. Of course, Coral Sea was done before the Wildcat, Avenger, and 40 mm flak upgrades, so it might just work.

Yea, he really needs to get within 4 hex range to enable the TBDs to fly with fish.
I get so frustrated at TBDs missing or worse - getting dud hit after dud hit - that I just arm them with bombs until the torpedoes get fixed. On low naval strike at 3000 feet they can be effective against anything but BBs.
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

If I get within 4 hexes that will just be luck. I'm putting myself within 5 hexes of Darwin so the TBDs can use bombs against the blockade fleet that is stationed there.

I've never found the TBDs to be much help even when they're able to fly with the torps. I actually train them up on ASW so they're useful when the fleet is simply moving. But, they do serve some use when armed with 500 lb bombs and can hurt CVs and merchant ships pretty hard.
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

Looks like the USN got the drop on the mini KB. [:D] The dawn came and with the first searches of the morning we were just two hexes away. For some reason, although they were spotted early, my carriers did not launch a morning strike. So, land based banshees went in unescorted and got shredded. Fortunately, there were no strikes from Scott either. But, in the afternoon, ah the afternoon. A massed coordinated strike went in with TBDs and SBD-2s and 3s escorted by F4F3s and Buffaloes. At the cost of 2 planes shot down, four Japanese light carriers were burning furiously as was a CA. No fuel or ammo explosions, but several critical hits and the post-combat report they were each listed as being obscured by smoke. The next day the Ryujo was reported as sunk but I'm willing to bet that at least two of the others also went down or are about to. The Hosho, for example, is a tiny ship and it took two torpedoes. Subs are scouring the area and we'll see if they pick up anything. All in all, a highly satisfactory result.

Ah, but what of the IJN counter-strike. Is that a wave of Kates coming over the horizon? [X(]

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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

It is Kates and escorts. My fighters took out about half of them before they got through but the remaining planes scored no hits! A nice little days' work for the USN!

Scott has a bunch of surface units north of Darwin so I'm not sticking around. If this was 1944 or later 1943 I'd stick around to polish off the survivors but it's January 1942 and I need to be happy with what I have. It's nice to take some flight decks away from him, rack up some VP, and make it harder to take Darwin. The carrier TF is heading straight east with orders to avoid combat. If Scott wants to stern chase me the most likely result will be the loss of more of his ships. I just hope he does not have subs out there to help even the score!

Now that he knows I'm near Darwin I may send the carriers heading towards Colombo for their upgrades. I can't fight the KB off the east coast of Austrilia and I can use the American carriers to slow down his conquest of Java and Sumatra. Keep them out to sea so he does not know where they are and run in on amphibious task forces. But, that's for the future, today we run home and celebrate the victory!

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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by BBfanboy »

Congratulations - I never expected you to get such one-sided results, but I guess mini-KB pilots are not of the same quality as KB. Nice ambush! [&o]

Your post says you are running east - which would be past Horn Island and into the catcher's mitt between NG and NE Australia. KB will be there before you can clear the area.

Your subsequent comment about Columbo makes me think maybe you meant to say you are heading West?
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by Capt. Harlock »

Congratulations - I never expected you to get such one-sided results, but I guess mini-KB pilots are not of the same quality as KB.

Likewise. I would have thought that once the Zeroes were in the air, it wouldn't matter what platform they were launched from. I'm happy to have been mistaken. [&o]
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

Thanks! It was especially nerve wracking when nothing launched in the morning. I've found that the American carrier pilots usually have good success against IJN pilots, especially the smaller flight decks earlier in the war.

BBFanboy, you are correct, I'm going west, not east and heading back towards Colombo. Scott will want to hunt me down but I can't stand up against the big boys in the West and the one element that the USN can use right now is surprise. I want to try to stay away from the obvious harbors such as Sydney and Pearl if I can help it. If he knows where I am, it's easy for him to block me out and maybe get lucky.
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by BBfanboy »

In Jan./42 the Indian Ocean is still a holiday cruise for KB if they decide to go there. IRL it was around March/42 that KB raided Columbo.

That means committing your CVs to an upgrade in Columbo makes them helpless if KB arrives, even if you land their air groups to defend the base.
I would take no chances and take the two-week cruise to Capetown to do the upgrades. From there you have the option to head to Panama or back to the IO when the upgrades are done.

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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

The morning after reinforced why it can be a good idea to have subs in the area of a major battle. The Darwin area has been full of US and Dutch subs since his invasion began with the intent of attriting him as he goes to and from the port. Following the good advice of BBFanboy I did not assign overlapping patrol routes for these boys. Rather, each one was assigned all three patrol points in one hex so that every hex between the mini KB and home and a sub dedicated solely to that hex. In the morning, this resulted in:

1. Taiyo taking two torpedoes.

2. Ryujo taking one torpedo.

3. Hosho (dear little Hosho) taking 3 torpedoes!

I heard some good sinking sounds thereafter and and the air combat report showed 28 carrier planes (claudes and kates) as ops losses. No word on the 4th carrier but it seems pretty certain that he lost 3 and most likely 4 small carriers. And, if any of them survived they are out of the war for a long long time. I'm glad the subs were there to bat clean up since the Taiyo was actually 4 hexes away from the battle when she got hit and was clearly able to make it to a friendly anchorage under her own steam.

BBFanboy, excellent point about the March Upgrades. I was worried in Sydney that Scott would get a bead on me for a port strike and it would be even worse to see them coming and not being able to leave because the CVs were refitting. And, it would keep Scott completely in the dark as to where they were. They are headed to Balikpappan right now to refuel and see if I can catch one of his Tarakan bombardment forces heading my way. If he sees me before I get there, however, I"ll go elsewhere as I don't want to face prepared landbased air.

Scott does continue to munch on my AKs in Rangoon. Another port strike took out 3 AKs and that was at high altitude.

He has another task force that appears to be heading to Port Blair. I have a British BB about 5 hexes away in a holding pattern that I do not believe he has spotted yet. There may be a surface action brewing.

In China, his division got away and he's killing squads bombarding me. I'm returning the favor at Moresby which has about 28,000 supply. I just wish I could figure out how to resupply it. Another New Zeeland Brigade is getting ready to head to Suva. that is already at fort 3 and building and if I can keep Scott bogged down in Moresby and Darwin I may be able to make Fiji impenetrable.
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

Well, there is a situation developing at Port Blair. He is sending some small task force there (resupply?) and, since I have this BB sitting off shore that I don't think Scott knows about I've sent it and 4 DDs on a bombardment mission to Port Blair. Taking advice from earlier, I am not mixing in CAs or CLs. The Hermes is standing by with swordfish ready to finished off any survivors. We'll see if he goes in there or not.

In the meantime, heavy radio signals at Truk make me think that the KB is on the move again. He may try to go into Moresby and finish that off as he now seems a bit bogged down. My CVs are moving close to Balikpappan hopefully through one of the straits that he does not have guarded with subs. More as it develops.

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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by Capt. Harlock »

I'm returning the favor at Moresby which has about 28,000 supply. I just wish I could figure out how to resupply it.

I would suggest running in supply with submarines, but your subs seem to be doing even more valuable service elsewhere.
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

Capt. Harlock,

No fooling on the submarines! The S-23 just put a torpedo into the Kaga near port moresby. [&o] I don't think it was hurt very bad (no explosions or even report of any damage) but it makes one nervous when torpedo wakes are heading towards one's CVs.

Here is the latest update. Figuring that the KB was staying east to support Moresby and potentially Fiji I sent my CVs west and on up to Balikpapan to refuel (he has not had any search planes in that area as attested to by the numerous tanker fleets I've sent into there to suck oil and fuel out that have not been spotted). My search planes saw some AOs heading to Brunei so I sent the carriers to one hex away from Tarakan for a cross island raid. Things did not quite work out the way it was planned as I ran into some large invasion task force. In the end, my pilots had too many targets. The AOs did get pounded and I may have sunk 3 (see below for an example), I also took out 3 DDs and perhaps a CL but I only got one strike in at the APs and damaged one (it might sink, 3 1,000 lb bombs will do that). So mission accomplished but with the tantalizing prospect of so much more. Too many strikes went after minor combat ships and not the juicy targets.

Needless to say, I'm getting the hell out of dodge. Don't want a surface fight or to face his land based air. I'll continue on up the islands towards Colombo to see if I can help out Sumatra at all, but probably not. He just took Medan after all so only Sebang holds on.

But, I'm sure this let's Tarakan hold out longer and that let's me suck more oil and fuel out of the DEI. So far I've taken out more than 100,000 oil and about 200,000 fuel. No sense in letting it stockpile and fall into Scott's hands.

Not much news in China. He is bombarding me and killing me there in several places. I'm tantalizingly close to killing a bunch of his artillery at Wuchow. He has one division and a number of guns but I just can't get him to retreat. But, I keep attacking.

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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

Time for a quick update.

First, I suspect I may have done more damage to Kaga than my original estimate. I spotted a task force heading away from Moresby that had a CV with it and my PBY even reported a hit on the CV (if true, kudos to those boys). The task force is also not moving very quickly. I don't think she'll go down since one torpedo and one 500 lb bomb are unlikely to hurt her, but she may be out of the fight for awhile. Meanwhile, the KB has moved past Horn Island. It looks like Scott may be heading towards Darwin to help a resupply/reinforcement convoy reach there. I'm not sure that he'd go all the way to Darwin as there are not good ports nearby for the KB, but he might, so I buttoned down my aircraft and have told the Darwin defenders to duck. And, with the KB safely in the north, I have bombardment missions going into Noumea. And, another NZ regiment along with copious supply has arrived at Suva. If and when he gets around to Fiji, I'll be very well fortified. And, if he never does, I have assigned those NZ units to non-restricted headquarters so they can be used elsewhere.

Meanwhile, my CVs have refueled at Balikpappan and are heading out this turn. I see a couple of subs that I'll have to run through and, if I make it, it will be off to Colombo and then to africa. Scott has taken Medan and I'm sure he's on his way to Sebang. The battle of attrition at Port Blair continues. This time, the Hermes and a British CV (I can't remember the name but she just showed up) caught a reinforcement convoy at Blair and sank a large AK and an AMC plus put a torpedo into an AP. The battle at Port Blair is actually letting me use royal navy assets since, except for in the hex itself, I'm pretty much out of torpedo range for land based air. The down side is the supply situation teeters on the brink every day. I may use the American CVs on their way to Colombo to cover a resupply convoy. I hate his subs more than the KB. I can stay away from the KB and even fight back, you never know where a sub might be.

No action at Rangoon, I've transferred fighter squadrons back to Chittagong to use Indian supply for replacements. In China, Scott is bombarding along the whole front leading to Sian. He now has so much artillery that I'm taking 6-10 squad losses per turn which is very high so I'll have to start thinking about pulling back. As for Wuchow, I keep attacking and I'm getting reports of significant losses on the part of the IJA (e.g. last turn he lost 38 squads and I lost 7). My men are tired, disorganized, and with low supply, but it keeps appearing that one more push with make them retreat. Or is that what Haig used to say on the Western Front. :-)
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

Time for another quick update. Going round the horn, I'm reinforcing Adak for the first time I've played this game. Scott usually heads up that way so I might as well be ready for him this time. I've also given up on auto convoy. I've found that at least for the first couple of years it's just a way to lose unescorted AKLs.

I now have three NZ brigades in Fiji, 15,000 supply and closing in on fort level 4. Keep digging boys!

At Noumea I had to take the bitter with the sweet. My bombardment TF with the Repulse ran into a reinforcment convoy and sank 2 AKs and 2 PBs. But, on the way home Repulse took 2 torpedos and is at flotation damage of 62. The pumps are still in good shape so she should make it back to Sydney and then be out of the war for awhile as I'll need to drain her before I can send her to proper sized ship yard. I hate IJN subs!

My devastating bombardments continue at Moresby where Scott is losing 10-15 squads per day. This is odd, and we've posted about it, especially as I only have 6 or so artillery pieces.

The KB continues to hover off of Darwin and Scott has now put another division onshore. My shore batteries scored a number of hits on a CL and a DD and two AKLs are on fire. Also, one of my subs took out an AK. Still, Scott is pouring a lot of resources in there. I'm at 44K supple and fort level three with four more brigades making the long overland trek. I can't fight the KB so I'm grinning and bearing it while I hope the shore batteries and subs take their toll. My CVs have made it back into the open ocean and are heading towards Colombo. I don't want Scott to see them as that makes him keep his head down.

I continue to bombard at Tarakan. I'm tempted to launch an assault just to see what happens, but he does not really take losses from my bombardment so I'm not sure he's too demoralized.

No action at Port Blair and he has two units hanging out outside of Sebang so the supply flights continue.

Nothing going on at Rangoon.

In china, I've rested two turns at Wuchow but he builds up his fort level so fast that it seems like I'm on the cusp of victory but never scoring. More IJA bombardments costing me 5-10 squads per turn. Keeping him away from the oil of Sian, however, seems like a good idea to me.
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by Capt. Harlock »

My devastating bombardments continue at Moresby where Scott is losing 10-15 squads per day. This is odd, and we've posted about it, especially as I only have 6 or so artillery pieces.

Maybe Churchill had the 18-inchers removed from Furious shipped over to Port Moresby? [:D]
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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

C.H.

If only!

More news from the front. The big news is, as you can see, a very successful attack by three dutch CLs and a couple of DDs on a major reinforcement convoy that was parked off of Tarkan. Numerous hits were scored, at least 5 ships are down (including the 20 VP Brazil Maru AP) and I'm sure 6-7 more will follow. And, the IJN only scored two hits on my CLs which were both deflected with armor. This may help Tarakan hold out awhile longer. All hail the Dutch navy! [&o]

Darwin is back to fingernail biting time. He has attacked twice and reduced the fort value each time and killed lots of allied troops in the process. He's taking losses but allied reinforcements are about a week away or so and streaming north. He may well be restocking his ships at Boela for another blast at me. I'm glad I flew in the Army regiment from Manila!

He has some commerce raiders wandering around between Colombo and Port Blair. I have the Yorktown up there and the rest of the American CVs coming in from the south. The Brit CV and CVL are sortieing from Colombo this turn. I keep missing him but the longer he stays there the more likely it is that I find him. I'm not sure he knows he keeps dodging carriers. China he is bombarding me but what else is new.

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RE: Best Two Out of Three

Post by John B. »

Bullet dodged on the next day after the great Tarakan merchant shoot. There was a swirling carrier battle near Port Blair. As noted above, Scott had roving patrols out near Colombo. That night he found an AK and sent it to the bottom with a CA taskforce. At dawn the CVL Shoho came within 20,000 yards of CV Yorktown. both sides avoided combat but the planes took off.

First, 5 Vals and 6 Kates came up against American F4Fs and British Fulmars (who had based on the Yorktown from Colombo). I have to say I was impressed that the unescorted Japs pressed their attack with bravery and the Kates lined up for their torpedo run and put one right into the side of the Yorktown.

And,


It was a dud!!!!! Oh Happy Day!!! The return strike was rather lame. I had 15 F4Fs escorting and they basically did nothing while the Zeros put paid to about 1/4 of the attacking force. Then, a TBF put a 500 lb into the Shoho. In the afternoon the Fulmars shot down the last gasp of the Kates and this time more of my bombers got through. But, they still managed to only get two 1,000 pound bombs into the Shoho. She was left with heavy fires reported, but not listed as having heavy damage. No dead planes on teh ops board. My main CV task force was about three hexes too shy of being in the battle or getting the CA task force. Yorktown is heading back into Colombo and the main CV force is moving to a place 14 hexes from the main IJA airbase from which, I hope, there are no torpedo planes that can reach. From there, if Shoho has bad engines I may be able to finish her off. If she gets away, I'm not going to follow (although there is a Brit sub moving to block her.

More WWI at Darwin and not much else to report other than another resupply convoy was intercepted at Noumea and 2 small AKLS and PBs went to the bottom.
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