Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy(A) vs KenchiSulla (J)

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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by BBfanboy »

Because he could soon be cut off and lose the troops he put there. The turnaround in IJN fortunes is usually quite sudden.

The words "I think" mean this is a surmise based on my experience. I do not have anything empirical to prove my case so there is no point continuing discussion - my opinion is just my opinion. [:)]
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: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

He's probably got about 6 months yet to have his way with me. By mid December, I'll have 5 Essexes and 7 CVLs on hand, which should even thing up a bit, not counting the deathtrap CVEs.

If he moves east from Suva, it'll be a test of my dispersed arrangement around Pago Pago.

I'm prepping three infantry divisions (2 USA, one Australian) plus armor and extras for Port Moresby. If he keeps his air weak there, that is an option, and I can kill a lot of IJA troops. I would love to cut the cords at Noumea, but there's no way I can provide air cover for a move like that. Maybe in early '44 I can pull that off if/when I've disposed of KB for good. It would get very lonely at Suva at that point. While hurting me there in supplies and troops, I think that may have been too much of a one dimensional move, and vulnerable to being cut off.
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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

14 June 1943

Fairly quiet. My subs at Truk are insisting on attacking the destroyer groups there.

I've relocated Hornet to Auckland. Comments about high sys damage are taken to heart after this trip. Sys was at about 79. Flt rose from 13 to 79 on this 9 hex trip. The "pumps failing" message was popping up on the last hex. I also dealt with two sub encounters on the way, but my ASW protection was competent. One hard hit on the first sub and three soft hits on the second. I forgot to check this turn, but I'll look at the US base forces on North Island to see if any of them have any naval support. If so, I'll move them to Auckland. Anything to knock down the soft damage numbers before sending her out. I'm also shipping more supply as I'm burning it up there recently.

Other than that, I got confirmation of CVL Zuiho and CA Ashigara being sunk. A full squadron of recon Lightnings arrived at Aden and a 2 plane squadron of P-40Ns are in Cape Town. A task force full of base forces and engineers is about 4-5 days away from Vava'u.
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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Sangeli »

Make sure to use "cruise speed" instead of "mission speed" for your TFs with crippled ships. Also, I have found in my experience a single AR servicing one CV will repair about as quickly as it can possibly repair in any base facility. Which means you can put a crippled CV just about anywhere and repair it if the base has an AR; even a dot hex. My suggestion is to bring an AR here and let that do the repairs in a smaller base. The chance of a future KB raid on Auckland is low but if he knows there is a CV there then it is more likely to happen. And Japan may be able to discover that with some recon on that base which probably happens ever so often. But the chance of a KB attack on some random tiny port is pretty much zilch. He'd have to first send a recon plane over it, see a CV, then organize an attack. If the base seems insignificant enough it's doubtful a recon plane would even bother with it.
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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

Are there recon planes with the range? Vanilla Mavises/Emilies probably don't have cameras, and I've learned firsthand that these type of planes aren't very good at ferreting out what's at a base.

Didn't think about cruise speed, thx for the reminder. I have a spare AR at Pearl. I could send it to Xmas Island and send their AR over. I may have one at Townsville, but will have to check. I have a big ARD at Christmas, I think, but I'm not keen moving it anywhere in that area. Plus the fact it would takes months to get there.

I found two NZ base units with a combined total of about 45 naval support, so I'm moving them to Auckland, swapping others to their locations.

I have no clue where KB is at the moment. Nothing's crossed the sub picket at Truk, so it's possible they've gone to Rabaul, though he'd have to sweep to the east to miss my PBYs. I know an ARD probably starts at Truk, but I don't remember if it's big enough to handle carriers. Being the IJN, probably not. Despite my clobbering, I did bloody them pretty good too. I'm sure Kaga's finished, but don't have confirmation yet. I do have plenty of air at New Zealand, so a base raid by him will probably run up losses pretty good. Hornet's air group is at the land base at Auckland on standby, too. Supplies there are under 20,000, so drop tanks have vanished for now. Two cargo TFs are heading over from Australia.

Two big transport TFs are enroute to Townsville, which I'm sure he's watching with interest. They are spotted. CF is smart enough to put 2 + 2 together and figure out what I want to do with them. Maybe an "invasion in being" could prove useful and give me an opening to landing at Baker Is. I'm about to move the troops I have dedicated to there from Pearl to Christmas Island. Two CVEs are already there for support. I think before I kick off any Baker adventure, I'll form up the transports at Townsville and let them sit there, looking like they're loading or something. Maybe even move them a few hexes north after the Baker force sails.
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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Sangeli »

ORIGINAL: Mundy
Are there recon planes with the range? Vanilla Mavises/Emilies probably don't have cameras, and I've learned firsthand that these type of planes aren't very good at ferreting out what's at a base.
I don't really know for sure. You also need to consider float planes on subs. Can any of those get cameras? Also, even without a camera it may be possible to detect CVs. But if you ask me, better to be safe than sorry.
ORIGINAL: Mundy
I have no clue where KB is at the moment. Nothing's crossed the sub picket at Truk, so it's possible they've gone to Rabaul, though he'd have to sweep to the east to miss my PBYs. I know an ARD probably starts at Truk, but I don't remember if it's big enough to handle carriers. Being the IJN, probably not. Despite my clobbering, I did bloody them pretty good too. I'm sure Kaga's finished, but don't have confirmation yet. I do have plenty of air at New Zealand, so a base raid by him will probably run up losses pretty good. Hornet's air group is at the land base at Auckland on standby, too. Supplies there are under 20,000, so drop tanks have vanished for now. Two cargo TFs are heading over from Australia.
Is Tulagi a level 7 port? I know my opponent likes to put his CVs. It's closer than Rabaul to a few key places. A raid would probably take heavy losses but sinking a USN CV would likely make it worth a heavy price. Unlikely but not impossible.
ORIGINAL: Mundy
Two big transport TFs are enroute to Townsville, which I'm sure he's watching with interest. They are spotted. CF is smart enough to put 2 + 2 together and figure out what I want to do with them. Maybe an "invasion in being" could prove useful and give me an opening to landing at Baker Is. I'm about to move the troops I have dedicated to there from Pearl to Christmas Island. Two CVEs are already there for support. I think before I kick off any Baker adventure, I'll form up the transports at Townsville and let them sit there, looking like they're loading or something. Maybe even move them a few hexes north after the Baker force sails.
If you see the KB go out I'd say go for Baker. And honestly it may be possible to take Baker even without distracting the KB. It's mostly a question of how many turns it takes between CF determining an invasion is coming and your landing. While the shock attack upon landing makes things more difficult for your troops, it means you can pull back your ships a day earlier. Should the KB not sortie in response to moves elsewhere, you could start playing some mind games with CF seeing how close you can get to Baker before CF does something in response. Each time CF reacts with the KB he's wasting fuel and I know CF hates that. Give him enough false alarms and he may take longer to sound the real alarm. I'd guess if you can get within 2 days of Baker before CF sends the KB out of Truk (or wherever it is) you can land and pull the navy out safely.
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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

I hadn't considered his fuel situation. Being the Allies, it's easy to mostly take that for granted. Yes, it can get tight in Australia and New Zealand, but I suppose with lots of big bases, he's going through it a bit. If he's going to sprint to Baker, he will wind up losing his destroyer escorts in the process. Being that I've caught his carriers with battleships twice now, he may be more circumspect about it. I still have plenty of battlewagons left, and I plan to keep some standing off within sprinting range like before. They won't be slow ones, either. I'll have to check my schedule, but I'm guessing I'll have an Iowa coming out this year.

I still plan to wave my ships around at Townsville when the time comes. I'll stack a bunch of surface and minesweeping TFs with it to look convincing. First thing's first and I need to get my troops staged at Christmas.
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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

17 June 1943

Got confirmation this turn that Hiyo is sunk.

The Monkey fed me this tidbit:
1943-06-16 Radio call sign of CV Zuikaku - - detected at 113,153

That puts her three hexes north of Koumac. I guess that rules out a Noumea invasion... If KB wants to sit there for the next month, fine with me. It'll make Baker that much more stress free. Nevertheless, I have about eight subs heading for the general area. Three from surrounding waters and the rest I had parked at Brisbane. If I can bag a carrier, he'll be scratching his head wondering how they showed up.

IJA medium bombers visited Bangalore today. Figures... all I had there fighter-wise was a small squadron of Boomerangs. Lots of damaged bombers. Most of the bombers are now out to Bombay, and I've brought good fighters in. Two F4U-1, one P-40K, one Hurricane and one P-38G. Georges swept after the bombers, so hopefully it'll happen in that order next time.

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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

18 June 1943

It appears the newly discovered IJN carriers are on the move. At first I was worried they were headed towards my landings at Vava'u, but they're 8 hexes W of Noumea headed SW. I have a supply TF bound for NZ south of Sydney, and I'm re-routing them to Tasmania. Sydney is extremely heavy in dive bombers. Brisbane is fairly heavy in torpedo carrying Beauforts. I've moved more fighters down from the north to beef that a bit.

I've sent an SBD-5 squadron to Lord Howe where the full squadron of P-39s can escort. They'll be the first to strike once they're in range. You never know...

At Vava'u, I have coast artillery and a CB battalion, and I'm shipping more proper base forces there. I just moved a newly converted SB2U squadron to Gisborne where they can reach Vava'u easily once an airfield is built. Everything else will have to be shipped in.

It may get interesting soon.

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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Sangeli »

Problem with defending against a KB air attack is range. I think with the D4Y dive bombers the KB can strike with a full bombload at range 8. And range 8 is a HUGE problem for the Allies. Only P-38s, Beauforts, and USN fighters can do an 8 hex escort at this time. How many do you have on hand in OZ? You can try setting up a 7 hex strike with the P-40K but my gut tells me that the likely result of that will be lot's of planes destroyed on the ground by bombardment at night with the IJN staying at range 8 during the day. Though I'd say that at Lorde Howe there is a fairly decent chance he may get closer than 8 hexes since he'd need to get that close to hit Sydney.

What do you have in port in Sydney and Brisbane? And what bases do you have nearby that can provide LRCAP? If indeed the target is one of the ports you can expect a night bombardment meaning the most effective CAP will probably be LRCAP. If it were me I would put priority on protecting my bases over trying to strike the KB. Better for the KB to lose pilots attacking your ships than the other way around. I've seen Allied LBA do some real damage on smaller CV detachments but never on a full KB.
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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

I have a slow BB and a cruiser repairing at Sydney. I'm feeling a bit thin in regards to fighters right now in Australia.

19 June 1943

Some early sparring. The Japanese mob is working towards Brisbane. Some Beaufighters attacked, but overall weather has been hampering things. Both sides are having search planes shot down in large amounts. Nobody at Lord Howe flew despite being in range. The P-39s there were set at 50% CAP, but I've got them all to escort now, seeing how many fighters are up over KB.
Morning Air attack on TF, near Lord Howe Island at 100,164

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 18
A6M5 Zero x 245

Allied aircraft
Beaufort VIII x 20
Boomerang C-12 x 7
Kittyhawk III x 8
P-40K Warhawk x 12

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort VIII: 8 destroyed, 2 damaged
Beaufort VIII: 1 destroyed by flak
Boomerang C-12: 3 destroyed
Kittyhawk III: 3 destroyed
P-40K Warhawk: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CV Taiho
CV Katsuragi

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Beaufort VIII launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp.

CAP engaged:
801 Ku S-1 with A6M2-N Rufe (0 airborne, 3 on standby, 5 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers
802 Ku S-1 with A6M2-N Rufe (0 airborne, 3 on standby, 5 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
Akagi-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 16 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes
27 planes vectored on to bombers
Soryu-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 16 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
27 planes vectored on to bombers
Hiryu-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 14 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes
12 planes vectored on to bombers
Shokaku-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 11 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
12 planes vectored on to bombers
Zuikaku-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 11 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
18 planes vectored on to bombers
Junyo-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 12 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
16 planes vectored on to bombers
Hosho-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 12 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
14 planes vectored on to bombers
Taiho-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 16 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
15 planes vectored on to bombers
Unryu-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 16 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes
27 planes vectored on to bombers
Amagi-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 16 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
24 planes vectored on to bombers
Katsuragi-1 with A6M5 Zero (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 7000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 17 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers



---------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on TF, near Lord Howe Island at 100,164

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 18
A6M5 Zero x 227

Allied aircraft
Anson I x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Anson I: 3 destroyed

CAP engaged:
801 Ku S-1 with A6M2-N Rufe (7 airborne, 1 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
802 Ku S-1 with A6M2-N Rufe (2 airborne, 2 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 29070.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
Akagi-1 with A6M5 Zero (18 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
18 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 8 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 20 minutes
Soryu-1 with A6M5 Zero (18 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
18 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 12 minutes
Hiryu-1 with A6M5 Zero (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
10 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 33220.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 63 minutes
Shokaku-1 with A6M5 Zero (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 16 minutes
Zuikaku-1 with A6M5 Zero (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 16 minutes
Junyo-1 with A6M5 Zero (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 33220.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 45 minutes
Taiho-1 with A6M5 Zero (12 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
10 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes
Unryu-1 with A6M5 Zero (10 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
8 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 8 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
Amagi-1 with A6M5 Zero (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
9 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 8 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
Katsuragi-1 with A6M5 Zero (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
7 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 15 minutes
Hosho-1 with A6M5 Zero (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 7 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 33220.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes

I wish he would move south within range of Sydney, as I have a ton of dive bombers there. I have Spitfires, Corsairs, Boomerangs, P-40s and maybe some Lightnings at Brisbane, but not enough to kill his CAP. It's quite tense right now.

Most of my hope is on the Lord Howe group. On occasion, attackers can blow through the CAP and I could use one of those moments here.

I'm not sure if a bombardment is on the way or not. My feeling right now is that it is. As shown, my intel on his groups here is rather sketchy.

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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by SqzMyLemon »

ORIGINAL: Mundy
I have Spitfires, Corsairs, Boomerangs, P-40s and maybe some Lightnings at Brisbane, but not enough to kill his CAP. It's quite tense right now.

Most of my hope is on the Lord Howe group. On occasion, attackers can blow through the CAP and I could use one of those moments here.

I'm not sure if a bombardment is on the way or not. My feeling right now is that it is. As shown, my intel on his groups here is rather sketchy.

I find whenever you hope for something to go right, it doesn't. I know you are trying to hit back, but it just seems you are throwing aircraft away on naval strikes that have almost zero chance of success. Hoping you "blow through CAP" is setting yourself up for failure, especially when you mention you don't think you have enough assets to penetrate his CAP, so why are you putting your forces at risk when you don't hold a tactical advantage? CF seems to cross his T's and dot his I's, so hoping to have success with desperation tactics is a recipe for disaster.

If you fear a naval bombardment against one of your coastal bases stacked with aircraft, why keep the aircraft there? CF has shown naval bombardment of coastal bases stacked with aircraft is one of his favourite tactics. I'm sure you've burnt your hand once as a child? Quit sticking your hand back in the flame [:D].

Sketchy intel? Those reports tell me you are about to get whacked. For the game date, you should have a great naval air search capability, especially off the coast of Australia which is essentially your front line.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but you've got to start learning from your mistakes. All the reinforcements you're putting a lot of faith into won't go far if you don't change your tactics.
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Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by JocMeister »

If you read a couple of AARs you will see that LBA against CVs doesn´t work very well. Especially in 43 against a full KB. You will only be throwing planes away.

You are being overconfident in what is possible to do at this time in the game. You need to take a break, look at the map and most importantly look at what your enemy has at his disposal. Your situation isn´t that different from my first PBEM. But I wasn´t hellbent on attack, attack attack. I didn´t take PM back until early 44 and I still made it to AV in 45.

You have been taken an absolute beating so far. You need to play more cautiously, plan your OPs better and make sure you husband what little assets you have left and use them where you can get the most out of them.

Take a week off from the game. Read a couple of AARs and rethink the way you are playing. Its pretty obvious it isn´t working out for you right now. [:)]

Sorry if it came out like a lecture. Isn´t my intention. Just friendly advice. [:)]
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RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

20 June 1943

If it makes anyone feel better, what I chose to do with my air is irrelevant. It started off like this.
Night Naval bombardment of Brisbane at 96,160 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Boomerang C-12: 4 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 5 damaged
Anson I: 7 damaged
Anson I: 1 destroyed on ground
Kittyhawk III: 9 damaged
Kittyhawk III: 2 destroyed on ground
Beaufort VIII: 12 damaged
Beaufort VIII: 3 destroyed on ground
P-40K Warhawk: 12 damaged
P-40K Warhawk: 3 destroyed on ground
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 damaged
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed on ground
F4U-1 Corsair: 6 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 2 destroyed on ground
Vengeance I: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato
BB Mutsu

Allied ground losses:
281 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Airbase hits 13
Runway hits 16

BB Yamato firing at Brisbane
F1M2 Pete acting as spotter for BB Mutsu
BB Mutsu firing at Brisbane Fortress
Brisbane Fortress firing at BB Mutsu


---------------------------------------------

Night Naval bombardment of Brisbane at 96,160

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort VIII: 47 damaged
Beaufort VIII: 5 destroyed on ground
F4U-1 Corsair: 18 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed on ground
Vengeance I: 10 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 14 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 2 destroyed on ground
Anson I: 20 damaged
Anson I: 2 destroyed on ground
Boomerang C-12: 3 damaged
Boomerang C-12: 1 destroyed on ground
Kittyhawk III: 3 damaged
Kittyhawk III: 1 destroyed on ground
P-40K Warhawk: 25 damaged
P-40K Warhawk: 2 destroyed on ground
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 damaged
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
BB Ise

Allied Ships
AVD Ballard, Shell hits 1

Allied ground losses:
689 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 21 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Airbase hits 18
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 33
Port hits 1

BB Hyuga firing at Brisbane
BB Ise firing at Brisbane


---------------------------------------------

Night Naval bombardment of Brisbane at 96,160 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort VIII: 21 damaged
Beaufort VIII: 5 destroyed on ground
Kittyhawk III: 4 damaged
Kittyhawk III: 1 destroyed on ground
Spitfire Vc Trop: 2 damaged
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed on ground
P-39D Airacobra: 7 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed on ground
Boomerang C-12: 5 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 7 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed on ground
Vengeance I: 5 damaged
Vengeance I: 1 destroyed on ground
P-40K Warhawk: 7 damaged
Anson I: 15 damaged
Anson I: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
BB Kongo

Allied ground losses:
142 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 22

BB Kirishima firing at Brisbane
BB Hiei firing at Brisbane Fortress
Brisbane Fortress firing at BB Hiei
BB Kongo firing at Brisbane

Followed up by this.
Morning Air attack on Brisbane , at 96,160

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 49 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 19

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
19 x A6M5 Zero sweeping at 20000 feet



---------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on Brisbane , at 96,160

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 93 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 72

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 3 damaged
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
AKE Mobile City, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AVD Ballard, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Diomed, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Sipora, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
YO-14, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
SS S-30, Bomb hits 1
xAP Van Neck, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Parigi, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Tanimbar, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
36 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
17 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
City Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
19 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb

Massive explosion on SS S-30


---------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on Brisbane , at 96,160

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 48 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 145
B5N2 Kate x 70
B6N2 Jill x 99
D4Y1 Judy x 127
D4Y2 Judy x 50
D4Y3 Judy x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 3 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 5 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak
D4Y1 Judy: 8 damaged
D4Y2 Judy: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
xAKL Sipirok, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Republic, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
SS Tarpon, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
xAP Van Neck, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Van Rees, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Gulfdawn, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
xAP Swartenhondt, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AKE Mobile City, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AVP Thrush, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AVD Sands, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Kota Gede, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Tiradentes, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
SS KXVI, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Tanimbar, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AD Dixie, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAP Limerick, Bomb hits 3
ACM Karangi, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AG Timoshenko, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
SS S-30, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
PC Yandra, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Caledon, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
xAP Boschfontein, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
xAP Iron Warrior, Bomb hits 2, on fire
TK War Sirdar, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAP Iron Master, Bomb hits 1, on fire
TK Elsa, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
AG Rata, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Ellaroo, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
PC Bingera, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
PC Carroo, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
AKE Nisqually, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
AVD Ballard, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Iron Knob, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Gulfpride, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
APA Sumter, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP President Fillmore, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Examiner, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAP Empire Raja, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Chungking, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Pijnacker Hordijk, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Argus, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Ngakuta, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AVP Pelican, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Matua, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Lady Isobel, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PC Wilcannia, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Kindur, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Prominent, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Diomed, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Noora, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAKL Mulubinda, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Wear, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
PC Comara, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AVP Teal, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK William Sunoco, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAP Matang, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAKL Corrimal, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Oorama, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Repair Shipyard hits 5
Port hits 9
Port fuel hits 8
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
12 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
5 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
13 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
21 x A6M5 Zero sweeping at 20000 feet
3 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
17 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
5 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
24 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
14 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
19 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
6 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
7 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
19 x A6M5 Zero sweeping at 20000 feet
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
17 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
12 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
17 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
5 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 3000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
13 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
2 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
6 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
2 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
13 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
13 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
7 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
6 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
5 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
9 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
3 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
3 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
3 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
5 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
5 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 2000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb



---------------------------------------------

Afternoon Air attack on Brisbane , at 96,160

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 119 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 39 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 22
B6N2 Jill x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
xAP Empire Raja, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
TK War Sirdar, Bomb hits 1, on fire
ACM Karangi, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PC Carroo, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

At this point in the war, anyone got a guess of how many fleet carrier's worth of planes this makes up? I'm guessing at least 8 at this point. Being Iron-Babes, I'm sure the IJN CV count must be jacked up a bit. I've been growing weary of these enhanced-Japanese games. RA3 was my last aborted game. That's probably why in my other game, I deliberately chose Scen 1 to play the Japanese as. I want to see how I stack up using what they really had. There, I'm making slow, but steady progress.

I'm coming around to where I'm going to have to change Ed-doctrine so that if a major fleet approaches, to just flee inland. With the notice I had, I doubt my ships there could have cleared the area before they arrived. I hate this as it's a pain to pull off when needed, but it beats just getting clobbered every time. My squadrons there will rebuild, as all the pools are in good shape right now. I thought I was in good shape, but it appears my fighter strength in Australia isn't really where it should be. It's enough to cover raids to Port Moresby and the like, but against an all out assault like this...

This just appears to be a heavy handed raid, as I don't see transport or the like anywhere. If he did land there, I'm sure the Oz army would start receiving its steroid diet.

Since he's lingering off the Australian coast, I've ramped up my supply and reinforcement of the Pago-Pago area bases. A bunch more base forces/engineers/aircraft are bound for Vava'u, and I'm keeping everyone nicely topped off supply-wise.

In India, a big transport force dropped off a huge load of base units as well as supply. Over the course of two weeks, I'll have dumped probably 175k of supply there. Another's loading up at Cape Town. I'm moving xAKs to Abadan, since I have over 150k of supply built up there again. Another 50+ xAKs are enroute to Cape Town, too. If I can feed enough in to get the inland bases to start getting stuff, I'll be happy. I have 4 MAGs in Karachi deploying out, amongst all the other base units. 3 are bound for Bombay, as I've been overstacked there again. The last to Madras. Some other biggish ones are headed to the inland bases near the inland tip of the country to get them developed better.
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jwolf
Posts: 2493
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2013 4:02 pm

RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by jwolf »

Classic chess strategy: remove the defender. His bombardment fleets wipe out your fighter defense, leaving the base wide open to KB air attack. Until you have a counter to this (I don't know what to suggest, sorry) there's no way you can leave shipping and air at coastal bases within range of his forces. Same thing happened when he started to attack Suva, right?
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Mundy
Posts: 2867
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2002 6:12 am
Location: Neenah

RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

Sorta. At Suva, I did get nearly all the ships out and was able to withdraw the airplanes, so I lost little there. The ease with which bombardments can sail in is getting frustrating. It's harder to pull the same thing on him, thanks to the superior range of his planes.

21 June 1943

KB is quiet this turn. Nells from Noumea decide to hit the heavy industry at Brisbane. Have at it dude... I shut them down anyway. 25/50 of the factories are damaged now. The tooltip on his TFs indicated that they're heading NE. I was skeptical until the Monkey told me this:
1943-06-20 a Japanese CV is - - moving to 108,154

That spot is six hexes WNW of Koumac. It just so happens I have a bunch of subs within a day's sail from there, so I'm going to smother it. I could use a break at this point. No, leave Yamato alone...

Once I got my head out of my butt, I remembered all the base and engineering units stocked up on the Australian west coast which were geared for the not-happening Palembang invasion. Still in strategic mode. Duh... They're all moving east, so I can get a thick webby network set up like I have at Pago Pago. I discovered the dot-base at Emerald, which was invisible to me up to this point. That can be build up pretty big too. Lots of airplanes and base forces are loading up at San Francisco for Australia too. When the threat dies down, I can move them out to the various island bases later on.

I guess at this point my best strategy is just to stonewall the best I can until I have enough carriers to take the fight to him. Even then, I'd prefer the decisive carrier battle happen within the range of land based air.

When I start the big offensive eventually, I'm not sure how to go about it. I was favoring a shot through the Gilberts and Marshalls and to the northwest from there. Maybe if I can secure Port Moresby and Milne Bay, a shot to Guadalcanal would be feasible. He has that long, skinny line running from there to Noumea and Suva which would suddenly become a giant POW camp. I do want to grab Baker, just to keep the sightseers away from my routes.

This game's driving home the concept of mutually supporting bases which never seemed a factor in my other aborted games. AW1Steve's been teaching me some other dirty tricks from the Allied side against my Japanese there. I think if I were to start another Allied game, it would go far better than this one. The problem is that base forces are tight for the Allies at the beginning, so it's hard to develop a lot of stuff from the get-go. We're getting in at least two turns a day too, so the "illusion of movement" is there and I can better see things develop.
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Sangeli
Posts: 1132
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Location: San Francisco

RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Sangeli »

Well hopefully this whole thing was a wakeup call of how to be more careful managing units. You are 100% correct that you wouldn't have had time to pull out the ships from Brisbane before the KB would sink them. The real issue is why were there in the first place? Why weren't they out there on convoy missions? And if not that then why not Melbourne or a base more protected? This game requires a full deliberate approach considering every possible scenario. As you have found out Allied air bases are extremely vulnerable to bombardment. Perhaps CF doesn't bombard as much as my opponent so its more of a shock to you when he does. And having your engineers in Perth sitting there for months doing nothing is really shooting yourself in the foot. You won't beat CF if you're not getting the most out of all your units.
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Mundy
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Location: Neenah

RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

23 June 1943

Contrary to what Intel Monkey says, KB is hanging around pounding Brisbane some more. They and the Nells are concentrating on the docked shipping, so I'm going to have to pretty much write them off at this point. I'm hoping he doesn't turn his attention towards Townsville, as I don't have a lot of room to flee to there.
Morning Air attack on Brisbane , at 96,160

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 104 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 38 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 64

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 4 damaged
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
xAP Kota Gede, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Iron Warrior, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Empire Raja, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Iron Knob, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Sipirok, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAKL Corrimal, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PC Kybra, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AD Dixie, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAKL Schouten, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
32 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
31 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb



---------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on Brisbane , at 96,160

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 117 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 127
B5N2 Kate x 71
B6N2 Jill x 117
D4Y1 Judy x 123
D4Y2 Judy x 48
D4Y3 Judy x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 5 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 5 damaged
D4Y2 Judy: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
xAKL Ngakuta, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
AKE Nisqually, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Diomed, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
TK Gulfdawn, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
AKE Mobile City, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
AD Dixie, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Prominent, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
xAP Boschfontein, Bomb hits 8, and is sunk
xAK Examiner, Bomb hits 11, and is sunk
xAKL Canopus, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL Carlisle, Bomb hits 9, and is sunk
xAP President Fillmore, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
xAP Tanimbar, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk
xAKL James Cook, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
xAP Ellaroo, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
xAP Tiradentes, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
TK William Sunoco, Bomb hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
APA Sumter, Bomb hits 9, and is sunk
xAP Iron Warrior, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
TK Elsa, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL Mulcra, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Lady Isobel, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Mortlake Bank, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
xAKL Karuah, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
xAKL Sipirok, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Corrimal, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Schouten, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Kota Gede, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk

Repair Shipyard hits 3
Port hits 17
Port fuel hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
25 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
17 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
3 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
17 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
5 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
12 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 1000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
24 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
12 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
10 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
13 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
13 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
17 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
13 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
17 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
7 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
6 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
2 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
13 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
2 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 2000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
9 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 10000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
3 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
7 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
1 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
City Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb

Massive explosion on xAP Tanimbar
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Brisbane at 99,163

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 14
A6M5 Zero x 146

Allied aircraft
SBD-5 Dauntless x 15

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 5 destroyed

CAP engaged:
801 Ku S-1 with A6M2-N Rufe (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 4 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
802 Ku S-1 with A6M2-N Rufe (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
Akagi-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
Soryu-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 13 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
Hiryu-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
Shokaku-1 with A6M5 Zero (3 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes
Zuikaku-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
Junyo-1 with A6M5 Zero (3 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
Hosho-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
Taiho-1 with A6M5 Zero (4 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes
Unryu-1 with A6M5 Zero (4 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes
Amagi-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 19 minutes
Katsuragi-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes

So it appears between his escorts and his CAP, he has 273 Zekes on board. 10 carriers worth?

KB is edging their way to the SW. I've got just about all the ships at Sydney packed up and running to Melbourne. Nevada and a CA are stuck in the three day warm-up time out of the docks, so if he hits, they'll get nailed. At Sydney, it's about 15 xAKs and a bunch of AMs, along with a bunch of destroyers and a CA.

Da Monkey says the IJA 34th Division is preparing to hit Geraldton. They were spotted in Hong Kong two days ago, so I guess this isn't imminent. CF is in for an ugly fight anywhere along the west coast if he tries. I have a regiment and two tank "regiments" there. I quoted these, as there's not a lot of tanks in each of them. About two division's worth of troops are in Perth, which I can send in if needed. The smaller southern ports are mostly coastal artillery. A USMC defense battalion is at Albany.

Over the next 33 days, I have two Essexes (Enterprise and Wasp) and two Independences (Independence and Belleau Wood) arriving.

Victorious just went into the yard for updates. I forgot to switch her on and she was due. This is a big one, going from mediocre AAA to lots of medium flak being added. When I'm ready to use her, I'm toying with the idea of swapping her weakling air group for some USN/USMC squadrons. This could put here somewhere between a USN CVL and CV.
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Mundy
Posts: 2867
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2002 6:12 am
Location: Neenah

RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by Mundy »

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

Well hopefully this whole thing was a wakeup call of how to be more careful managing units. You are 100% correct that you wouldn't have had time to pull out the ships from Brisbane before the KB would sink them. The real issue is why were there in the first place? Why weren't they out there on convoy missions? And if not that then why not Melbourne or a base more protected? This game requires a full deliberate approach considering every possible scenario. As you have found out Allied air bases are extremely vulnerable to bombardment. Perhaps CF doesn't bombard as much as my opponent so its more of a shock to you when he does. And having your engineers in Perth sitting there for months doing nothing is really shooting yourself in the foot. You won't beat CF if you're not getting the most out of all your units.

Well, I do want transport capability at hand in case an invasion window opens up. I don't want all my transports scattered into the four winds with zero capability to move units when I need to. I for the most part kept the shorter ranged ships (<= 4,000) there to deal with local issues.

I've leaned my lesson regarding KB and am bailing when they approach. I overestimated my CAP and did not appreciate how many carriers he had. I can't really trust the tooltip report as it tends to be exaggerated. I also thought the hits I gave him earlier may have tamed him down a bit. I guess I don't know what he can fully deploy in this scenario. A standard non-enhanced scenario probably would have never seen this many carriers on his end.

I wish I could spit the Midways out a couple years early.
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JocMeister
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Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:03 am
Location: Sweden

RE: Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy vs Cannonfodder

Post by JocMeister »

ORIGINAL: Mundy

I guess at this point my best strategy is just to stonewall the best I can until I have enough carriers to take the fight to him. Even then, I'd prefer the decisive carrier battle happen within the range of land based air.

When I start the big offensive eventually, I'm not sure how to go about it. I was favoring a shot through the Gilberts and Marshalls and to the northwest from there. Maybe if I can secure Port Moresby and Milne Bay, a shot to Guadalcanal would be feasible. He has that long, skinny line running from there to Noumea and Suva which would suddenly become a giant POW camp. I do want to grab Baker, just to keep the sightseers away from my routes.

No, your best strategy at this point is to hop short hops under LBA where the KB is not. Given your losses it will be mid to late 44 before you have CV parity. And don´t assume just because you have Essexes and Hellcats that your are automatically going to win that fight. Because you are probably not going to do that. CVs are nice to have but not a necessity for advancement. You need to realize that your best option at this stage is to creep forward a base at a time. Go in, land, get out before CF can react. Small, fast invasions and not big cumbersome ones with a gazillion ships that CF can spot a month in advance. Stealth and speed. You are already counting how many CVs you will have in a month. Forget about them. You can´t use them for anything. They are too few to go up even against smaller LBA in CENTPAC. Park them at Balboa and realize that you will have to play the coming 18 month without CVs.

You can forget about Gilberts/Marshalls. Besides the fact that Atoll invasions are one of the hardest things you can do in the game it will be extremely hard for you to do without CVs. Its also very easy for CF to move the IJN in, cut you off from the sea and isolate your troops. If you do anything here it should be small scale.

Take a break from the game for a weak (as I urged you too before). Sit down. Look at the map and your forces and set up an overall goal for 43 and 44. Where do you want to be in 12/44? When you established that you follow that route backwards to where you are now and make a time table. This will give you something to focus on and will also show you if your end of 44 goal is feasible.

Besides that you should read some AARs to give you ideas and inspirations. There are some good ones where the allied player came back from the abyss. And make sure you study the Japanese side of things.
ORIGINAL: Mundy
I overestimated my CAP and did not appreciate how many carriers he had. I can't really trust the tooltip report as it tends to be exaggerated. I also thought the hits I gave him earlier may have tamed him down a bit. I guess I don't know what he can fully deploy in this scenario. A standard non-enhanced scenario probably would have never seen this many carriers on his end.

Reading a few AAR would have avoided the first situation. Looking at the Japanese side would have given you the exact number of Japanese CVs. The latter would have taken you less then 15 minutes to look at. Going by your comments on your supply distribution you also need to look at that carefully. Judging by your comments I´m actually moving more supplies in 2/42 then what your doing right now. It should be the other way around. You should have millions of supply in OZ and India by now. If you don´t then you are doing something wrong and need to correct it.

You are constantly making the mistake of assuming what your opponent will do. You have barely scratched him and he is beating you all over the map. Why would he be "tamed" and why would he be on the defensive? Plan for the worst. Always.

I think its for you to decide if you want to invest the time to be a really good AE player or just an average one. If you want to then you need to do what I suggested. Take a break, read AARs, ask questions, change the way you are playing and study the Japanese side. I get the feeling you are just flipping turns as fast as you can when you should take the time to do things properly.

You are playing a really good opponent. You need to do things properly or he will continue to win battles.
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