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Alpha77 -> RE: Allies vs. Japan (but AI this time) - campaign notes, no AAR (10/31/2010 3:01:08 PM)
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Timor: Jap has taken meanwhile the small 2 bases there on the east. We sent PT boats that always flee the battle. We even changed the commander it doesnīt help. The flee and return and flee again. Well they are now in the middle of the ocean ran out of fuel, cause at last they fled to Darwin even if I donīt gave any order. Seems they have there own logic in thwe game. Guess they sink, but this will be better for me so I donīt need to care anymore about those small boats that achive nothing but only give you headaches. We intercepted with patrols, Hudsons and B17Ds from Koepnang and Darwin even hit 3-4 transports. But the subs also did no harm to the enemy. Sadly we have no surface ships to speak of in the area, I remember int he 1st game I had some success there with a CL and DDs. But in this game the major ships are farther back in the rear cause I know how dangerous the KB and the Bettys are now. Small Dutch garrison at Kopepnang still holds btw. Maybe 2-3 days longer - would be good to deny the airfield there. Burma: Some small units were chased back by huge Jap units and armor. 1 base force might survive and maches to India. The Burma Div also could escape. It has now made some distance to the Japs so will escape and needs later als march through the heavy terrain into India. HEAVY fleet actions there, we were determined to stop reeinforcement and supply flow at Akyab so send almost everything the Brit has, severall BBs + 1 CV + 1 CVKL as strongest unoits. They were able to sink some transports by air. But Jap still is there - seems to come in at night. So surface forces needed and sent in, 2 mine hits (these are my OWN mines I laid at Akyab!!), hard fighting, severall ships badly damaged, 2 DDs sunk (one of em a American APD which as diverted to help the British out), CLV Hermes also, the CV fleet was raided by crusiers at night. Jap did a good fight against supporior forces, seems there reputation in cruiser and DD war comes not out of nothing. But we sank 2 CAs, if the report is correct. Also we encircled the Jap div which marched to Cox Bazar. They lost almost all their heavy weapons it seems on the sunk transports, mostly only infantry left. So chance to kill these is there. Please see the combat reports for all the nerve shattering action there. Most of the ships should be out of action for a time, with Hermes and a CL being the ships with hugest damage, so looooong repair for them. Btw. Prince Of Wales was back in action there, but hit a own mine at Akyab, so directly back to yard. Repulse is still repairing at Colombo should ready in 1 week or so. Interestingly and luckily the light cruiser guns from Jap CL (14cm) do not much to BBs and CAs, 1 BB was hit severall times, but only 3-4 points damage at all. In contrast the 20cm of Jap CAs and their DD guns are better. I noted this already at a fight near Midway, 2 hits only disabled some AA guns. Borneo: Brunei still forgotten by Jap, 3 base forces are there - starving. DEI: Medan still is ours, but the terrain there is not good for defensive donīt espect to hold long. The Jap chased survivers from Benkoelen - they are now somewhere in the jungle. Next step of Jap will be Medan which is already bombed to the ground anyway. Still heavy fighting around Batavia (city terrain, forts, strong Dutch units), stupidly the Jap send more landing forces instead using another already captured port to land, so we scored numbers of hits on small combatants and AKs by CD guns. They do a good job generally (mostly Dutch till now). Seems their 75mm+120mm CD guns are quite capable. Soerabaja is also attacked by 1 Div+ 1st attack held, 2nd attack was bombard. Terrain + strength there not so good, guess will not hold long. 97,7% of the Netherlands airforce is grounded, airfields + ports done. Also fires in city area of Soerabaya.... We lost also some small ships and 2-3 subs to air. Now there are only some PTs and minesweepers left. All the fuel there would be valuable in OZ, but in a not to far future the JAP will have it all :( Phils: Well we still have some scattered bases + starving units on some islands there, also Puerto Princessa still American. The Jap has no hurry to take them, they can do nothing to him anyway. NG: Jap took some more small ports on the east coast - Hollandia etc. As our A24 strikes were more or less a disaster, except the hits on a CVE + some transports 2 weeks or so ago I set them to train some more. 2 units are there - as well these fighters: 2x P40, 1x freshly arrived Kittyhawk (which is a version from P40 anyway I guess??). The Kittyhawks should do a bit better - pilots more experience. I tried some fighter sweeps which worked to a degree as I shot down 4-5 Oscars on the cost of 2-3 P40s, maybe the bad pilots are "sorted out" by combat slowly and the better ones survive so the units will improve. I know this would be evil thinking in reality but luckily it is only a game. Also there was surface action, Australia command sent a force of some cruiser+eīs to intercept landings at Milne Bay + area, but was surprised by Jap cruiser force in the night. Dorsetshire got 2x 20cm hits, 2-3 other ships were hit also. Japs werenīt hit at all. We retired fleet for repairs of course. A Jap sub was unlucky as it launched 3 torps at one of the damaged CLs but all missed PHEEW. OZ: Lost one valuable AKE to sub attack near Sidney :( The sub however was hit 4 times by DD Norman and sent home for sure (I hope that report is correct at least). Nothing more I remember outside the air action from Darwin - Timor area. FUEL problem in OZ of course which sucks, we need to bring in everything. Also transport per ship as the rail from Perth/Adelaide to the east does not work at all. One of the most annoying things in game. Pacific islands: 2 Jap raiding forces scored on transports. One of em in the middle of the ocean the other at Canton . I normally know that Jap raids at night, and wanted to send always more surface ships (up to CAs) with transport fleets, but there are not enough ships and the workload for command (=me) is also more. Another reason I send only ASW escort is that the Jap did not raid for a long time. But now he hits, at Canton 2 AKs+1 DD sunk. In the middle of ocean action 2 bigger ships (1 AP, 1 AK) were sunk by only 1 Jap DD. However some B18s got a fix on the 2 raiders at Canton and luckily I sortied a 3 CV TF in this direction, so we went after them at full speed. Recon of carier planes still got a fix on the ships and they were sunk by 30 SBDs (1 DD,1TB). This felt very good, first time succesful revenge of Jap raids. Otherwise we strengthen NZ,Fiji and Bora Bora as bases. We need to do something about Noemea I guess, still a Jap unit sitting there. Normally I would not care, but it denies the base to us. If we send reeinforcements piecemeal to Noumea and they attack, these may be all lost. So there are 2 ways: a) Just leave them sitting there, if they eventually take Noumea I should be able to prevent a strong presence of Jap air, cause I have meanwhile some better bombers and masses of fighters on Fiji + Bora Bora. b) A massive effort to kill the unit. This should be a Jap div these are quite strong at the first 1-2 years I learned. I can think about it some days more also wait and see what the 3CV TF and another strong BB+CA TF can achive or learn about Jap intentions using "recon by force". Subs: Nothing out of the ordinary except sinkings I reported in area sections above. (the AKE hurt most). Our subs donīt hit with torps or they are dud, but attack on the surface (the US ones) but only do damage and get damaged themselfes by good gunners on merchant ships. Maybe I try to use automatic sub option, cause the mircomanagement of subs annoys me more and more. For little return I mean.... This is the report from about 20. march I guess .... and following the COMBAT REPORTS belonging to the article: ht Time Surface Combat, near Milne Bay at 101,134, Range 7,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Tone CA Chikuma DD Isokaze DD Mutsuki Allied Ships CA Houston, Shell hits 1 CA Dorsetshire, Shell hits 2 CL Adelaide CL Boise, Shell hits 1 DD Voyager DD Scout DD Thracian ----------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Milne Bay at 101,134 Japanese Ships SS RO-66 Allied Ships CL Boise CA Houston DD Voyager DD Thracian DD Scout SS RO-66 launches 2 torpedoes at CL Boise... --------------------------------------------- Invasion Support action off Batavia Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft 21 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. Japanese Ships xAKL Aoi Maru, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage E Susuki, heavy damage PB Choko Maru #5, on fire ---------------------------------------------- TF 442 encounters mine field at Akyab (54,45) Allied Ships CL Enterprise, Mine hits 1 OWN MINES ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval bombardment of Akyab at 54,45 Allied Ships BB Royal Sovereign CA Exeter CA Cornwall CL Enterprise CL Hobart Airbase hits 2 Runway hits 1 Port hits 3 Port supply hits 1 --------------------------------------- Sub attack near Sydney at 92,168 Japanese Ships SS I-172, hits 4 Allied Ships AKE Mobile City, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage DD Norman SS I-172 launches 2 torpedoes at AKE Mobile City... I-172 diving deep ....... ----------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Ramree Island at 53,48 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 21 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-27b Nate x 2 Allied aircraft Fulmar II x 2 Sea Hurricane Ib x 3 Swordfish I x 11 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-27b Nate: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses Swordfish I: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged Japanese Ships DD Yugure, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk --------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Truk at 109,114 Japanese Ships xAKL Tama Maru, Shell hits 13, on fire Allied Ships SS Grayback xAKL Tama Maru is sighted by SS Grayback... SS Grayback attacking xAKL Tama Maru on the surface... SS Grayback low on gun ammo, Saunders, W.A. breaks off surface engagement and submerges... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Tulagi at 114,137 Japanese Ships xAK Shofuku Maru, Shell hits 4 Allied Ships SS Gudgeon, hits 2 SS Gudgeon attacking xAK Shofuku Maru on the surface... Grenfell, E.W. decides to submerge SS Gudgeon due to damage... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ramree Island at 53,49 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-27b Nate x 2 Allied aircraft Albacore I x 17 Fulmar II x 2 Sea Hurricane Ib x 2 Swordfish I x 11 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses Albacore I: 1 destroyed, 14 damaged Swordfish I: 2 damaged Japanese Ships CA Mikuma CA Nachi CL Kinu ---------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,45, Range 1,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Nachi, Shell hits 7, heavy fires CA Mikuma, Shell hits 4 CL Kinu, Shell hits 3 DD Asakaze DD Namikaze DD Numakaze Allied Ships CV Indomitable CVL Hermes, Shell hits 12, Torpedo hits 1 BB Prince of Wales CL Dauntless, Shell hits 5 CL Glasgow, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage CLAA Van Heemskerck, Shell hits 3, on fire DD Tjerk Hiddes DD Tenedos DD Nizam --------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,46, Range 28,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Mikuma, Shell hits 1 CL Kinu DD Asakaze DD Namikaze Allied Ships BB Revenge BB Royal Sovereign BB Ramillies BB Resolution CA Cornwall CA Exeter CL Hobart APD Pillsbury, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Stronghold, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Electra DD Jupiter ------------------------------------------------- Day Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,46, Range 28,000 Yards Japanese aircraft no flights Japanese aircraft losses No Japanese losses Japanese Ships CA Nachi, Shell hits 14, and is sunk DD Numakaze, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage Allied Ships BB Revenge BB Royal Sovereign, Shell hits 1 BB Ramillies, Shell hits 1 BB Resolution, Shell hits 1 CA Cornwall CA Exeter CL Hobart APD Pillsbury, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Stronghold, Shell hits 1, heavy fires DD Electra DD Jupiter ----------------------------------------------------- Day Time Surface Combat, near Ramree Island at 54,47, Range 24,000 Yards Japanese aircraft no flights Japanese aircraft losses No Japanese losses Japanese Ships CA Mikuma, Shell hits 9, and is sunk CL Kinu, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Asakaze DD Namikaze Allied Ships BB Revenge, Shell hits 1 BB Royal Sovereign, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1 BB Ramillies, Shell hits 1 BB Resolution, Shell hits 1 CA Cornwall, Shell hits 1 CA Exeter CL Hobart, Shell hits 3 DD Electra DD Jupiter ----------------------------------------------------------- ight Time Surface Combat, near Canton Island at 153,143, Range 4,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Oyashio, Shell hits 1, on fire TB Kiji, Shell hits 2, on fire Allied Ships DD Hull, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk DMS Zane xAKL Manini, Shell hits 15, and is sunk xAKL Hirondelle, Shell hits 17, and is sunk ------------------------------------------ orning Air attack on TF, near Baker Island at 145,137 Weather in hex: Light rain Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 10 minutes Allied aircraft F4F-3A Wildcat x 5 F4F-3 Wildcat x 3 SBD-3 Dauntless x 30 Allied aircraft losses SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 damaged Japanese Ships DD Oyashio, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk TB Kiji, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk ------------------------------------------------------
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