Grudge Match

Post descriptions of your brilliant victories and unfortunate defeats here.

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John B.
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Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Hello everyone. This is the rematch from When Newbies Collide in which Scott (Panzercat) threw in the towel at the Empire of Japan in 1944. We're starting again in December 1941 with Scott as the Japan and yours truly reprising his role as the allies. Nothing spectacular the first turn. Lots of death and destruction raining down on the allies. Two BBs sunk at Pearl, landings in Singapore etc..

On December 8th, however, things got a little more interesting. I had two CAs, five CLs and lots and lots of DDs in Pearl that were undamaged so, what the hell, I sent out a surface action fleet hoping to catch the KB or at least distract any follow on airstrikes from Pearl.

I did find the carriers and crossed the IJN T. It's too bad my men could not shoot as the battle left minor damage on both sides (a couple of small hits on carriers but no fires). But, then I stumbled onto the support ships and things got a bit more interesting. By the end of that battle both IJN DDs were sunk and four of the six AOs were on fire (alas I wasted 18 hits on the DDs which meant that some AOs got away). Then, another surface battle with the KB in which the Akagi and a CA were left on fire and a few more hits on other CVs. Then came the dawn. KB retribution was swift and strong and by the sunset I had lost 4 CLs, a CA, and about 12 DDs. Everything else is pretty badly shot up but should make it to Pearl.

Was it worth it? I don't know because I don't know how much damage I did to the Akagi. And, I don't know how many AOs went down (I'm pretty sure I got at least one). The Akagi has a long way home so if it really is on fire there is hope. I'm also not sure if Scott was coming back for a second day given where the surface combat took place.

I'd put up some screen shots but I don't know how.

On other fronts, the IJA fighter sweeps did not show up in time over Clark and, as a consequence, many IJA bombers were lost. Probably not the 54 my pilots claimed, but still a nice number. His IJA Bettys however, sank a large number of AKs fleeing singapore and his subs got at least two TKs and and AMC. I had cap up over Singapore and the Buffaloes did what one would expect vs. Zeros.
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by Capt. Harlock »

Nothing spectacular the first turn. Lots of death and destruction raining down on the allies. Two BBs sunk at Pearl, landings in Singapore etc..

Hello?? I call a first turn landing at Singapore spectacular. Are you sure you don't mean Hong Kong? And if it really was Singapore, what did the 15" coast defense guns have to say about it?
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Capt. Harlock,

That really would have been a bold and daring move (I tried it once in SPI's old War in the Pacific). but, I mistyped. He landed in Kota Baru. I should have said that the landing was NEAR Singapore. Sorry!
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by Crackaces »

ORIGINAL: John B.

Capt. Harlock,

That really would have been a bold and daring move (I tried it once in SPI's old War in the Pacific). but, I mistyped. He landed in Kota Baru. I should have said that the landing was NEAR Singapore. Sorry!

Now the real controversy these days is dropping on Mersing with support of the KB ... [8D]
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by Rio Bravo »

Bold, brave move going out up against the KB!

I will be following your AAR. This should be lots of fun.

Good luck, John.

Regards,

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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Well, it's now December 11th. I think I damaged at least one KB carrier as it seems to be crawling past Midway. And, I can always hold out hope that the CV (Akagi) is still on fire! In other news, the US carrier task force managed to surprised the Japanese Wake Invasion force and inflict significant damage. I think I got a couple of CLs and at least two AMCs and maybe one DD. Let me know to post screen shots and I'll put some up. The Wake ambush should help balance out the surface forces I lost fighting north of Oahu the night of December 8th. I can't save Wake since it's too close to his land based air but I can make him pay to take it and it's always nice to whittle down Japanese amphib capacity.

In Malaya Scott is pushing south towards Singapore. There was an odd running series of surface combats between a IJN taskforce of a CL and a TB coming into Palembang, then out again. I had two different allied DD task forces of one ship each and the net result was some damage to a dutch DD and the TB sunk. It had some small 5 squad unit on it. His land air blasted some HDMLs in Georgetown. He is being much more aggressive in the bismark sea having just invaded Kaeving, Manus and up in Hollandia. He has also assaulted Burnei and Miri and taken both. His forces are on the ground in Guam and that will fall soon. In China I attacked Ichang for exactly no result, he's started to bombard Hong Kong and my forces are fleeing from the clear terrain.

Now that the issue is joined here is my general strategy.

1. China: China wins by not losing. I was too agressive early on in the last game and this time I intend to hunker down more. I will attempt to hold Changsha and Sian and I'm investing in rebuilding Changsha's industry as I think it's output can help China survive, especially when you add in the little industrial triangle outside the city. The AVG is heading there to help keep a check on the IJA using chinese troops as bombing practice.

2. Burma: The longer I can hold Rangoon the better but if Scott puts sea assets there I can't keep it supplied. But, the forts are being built.

3. DEI & Phillpines: I have a three forts strategy this game. I'm holing up in Singapore, Soerebaja, and Clark Field. Each of these locations is set on maximum supply stockpiling. I'm also flying out as many troops from Singapore as possible to reduce the supply drain and to keep down the VP losses when it goes under. Any dutch troops that can make it to Sorebaja are heading there. I figure it has nice supply production and the longer it lasts the more damage to the oil and industry when it falls. As for Clark Field, it's the best terrain. I know the US will run out of supply eventually, but there is not much that can be done about that. Tying down any Japanese forces there means that they're not heading for other parts. Not much can be done about Palembang. Right now I have a few seaplanes flying supplies to Singapore from there and any troops that can get there are on the way but there is not much on the island so I don't hold out too much hope. Basically, these locations are preparing for long sieges to try and tie down troops as long as possible.

4. New Guinea/Australia: With Scott at Kaving and Tarawa already, I suspect he is going to cut off Australia. I think that the Darwin/Port Moresby/Rabaul line are the most important to hold. Scott is already pushing towards Rabaul and if the KB goes down there (as it likely will) he can take it. But, again, it's a delay game. I'm not improving the facilities there as he might as well be the one who has to do it. Darwin I'm going to try to hold and I think that will be easier because I can get troops there after a land march (long but he can't sink them). the AKs from the DEI have loaded up with supplies and will dump their loads there before heading out of harm's way. I like Darwin because it's a great place from which to threaten the oil. As for Port Moresby, I think it's harder for the IJN to take but he can. If he wants perth he can waste his time trying to take it. I don't think he can hold it to the end and it's not a critical location.

5. War at Sea. The basic aim of the War at Sea (IMHO) is the Japanese Merchant Marine. If I can destroy that his carriers and BBs don't matter nearly as much. I always seek out opportunities to sink anything that can carry cargo. Part of this is to supplement the SS campaign since the IJN seems to be able to blunt that to some degree (here's a game tip, never, ever, ever send your subs into shallow water. It's a death trap).[:-] Be that as it may, I want to keep the US CVs in play as a threat so Scott can't roam free and I try to be where he's not. right now the Prince of Wales task force is off of Tarakan but he's seen it so I may withdraw it and send it into the Bismark Sea. That may slow him up a bit. I'll link up the American CV task force with the Saratogo now that I've given him a bloody nose at Wake and then we'll all attempt to stay out of harms way for a little while.

Any thoughts or ideas are much appreciate![:)]
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

We are now into Mid-December and interesting things are afoot. For some reason the KB has been moving very very slowly past Midway. I think (hope) it's because one or more of his carriers was badly damaged in the surface action on the night of the 8th but I can't be sure. In any event, they did not rush home and it makes things easier in the SoPac and DEI. No huge action to report. I did intercept for IJN AKs landing in New Guinea with two CAs and a CL (the results of which was pre-ordained). He has taken Tarawa and one point about 7 hexes south of there. I detect a push to cut off Australia so I may have to route supply from S.Africa. On Wake his troops are trapped but too strong to kick off so I'm sure that will fall eventually. He is pushing towards Clark and Singapore and seems to be making a major push in China. He has started an attack towards Changsha but his first attack in the woods to the west was repulsed with heavy losses. There does not appear to be any significant push into Burma yet.

The sub war favors him right now as my ASW is awful. It makes me afraid to send major ships to Pearl! But, yesterday The Saurey got two AKs near Japan (in a minor firing pin miracle) and the S-41 got another one near Manila.

In the Phillipines Clark Field has 52,000 supply but the total has started to go down already even though I'm stockpiling there and Manila is still churning out light industry.

In the DEI, the POW and Repulse battle fleet is playing hide and seek with the mini KB. I'm not sure if it's having any effect and he is finding and sinking AKLs trying to run supplies to Davo but it makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. :-)

on Java everything that can go to Soerebaja is there and the stockpile is at 76,000 and growing. I may have a decent level of fortification there and I'm still able to run oil out for Australia. Palembang has weak forces and a few KNIL battalions are on the way. My main hope is to get enough engineers to blow up some oil wells when the IJA shows up. Meanwhile, I'm flying some troops like baseforces out of Singapore. I bit the bullet and put my best British commander there. 150 PPs but I think it will help it hold on and he can always catch a transport out when things look grim. But, supply convoys have reached there and the stockpile is at 66,000 and growing.

And still the mystery remains of the KB near Midway. Things that make you go hmmmm.
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Well, another day, another surface battle with a Japanese carrier fleet. This one took place on December 17, 1941 off the coast of Balikpappan. In one corner was the POW and the Repulse with various CLs and DDs. In the other was the Hosho, Zyiho and Riujyo (I think that's right) the Fuso a CA and several DDs. There were actually two fights and the net result thus far is one sunk allied DD, heavy damage to 4 allied CLs, moderate damage to the POW and light damage to the Repulse. I think that the Hosho is in trouble as it was not part of the second fight and there is a two ship IJN task force to the south of the main one. The Intel reports her as sunk, but there was no significant air loss in the operational or on the field section that would reflect the loss of the carrier air groups. The other carriers were hit, but not so badly that they could not launch airstrikes during the day. The Fuso took 21 hits and was on fire as was the CA and a couple of the DDs. BBs are tough to sink so it will probably make it, but she's out of action for a long time! If only my ships would shoot exclusively at the carriers when I catch them in a gun battle!

In other new, my resupply AK with one DD escort was attacked off of Wake by two AMCs. There was only one hit on the DD, which was bad, but it scored a total of about 15 hits and left one of the AMCs in flames. His attack on wake cost him 36 squads and the marines are still holding out. Clearly, a small ray of sunshine during a bleak month.

I'm starting to suspect that he is not going full bore to Singapore. He has a few land units in northern Malaya but does not seem to be pressing and he has not been bombing Singapore at all. It's 1,200 VPs for me which means he's going to have to make up ground someplace. Perhaps Australia or china. He did take Ocean Island and Naru but those are not really all that important IMHO. I'm sending a NZ brigade to Moresby along with more supplies and fuel. At the very least, if he has to fight hard for it it may slow him down in a push for the big points on the East coast of Australia.

Allied ASW is craptastic and I hate running my CVs into Pearl through his SS gaunlet. He also has at least one boat off of LA. I solved that problem in the last game with a massive carrier raid on Kawjalean but I might not be able to pull it off this time.
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by Capt. Harlock »

Well, another day, another surface battle with a Japanese carrier fleet. This one took place on December 17, 1941 off the coast of Balikpappan. In one corner was the POW and the Repulse with various CLs and DDs. In the other was the Hosho, Zyiho and Riujyo (I think that's right)

I believe the third carrier was the Ryujo. (Not that it makes the slightest difference, but the "Ryu" beginning means "dragon" in Japanese. The Ryujo's name translates to "prancing dragon".)

This is turning into a fascinating AAR!
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Captain Harlock, thanks for the language lesson! [&o]

It appears that the Ryujo has survived to prance another day but we can officially scratch one flattop as I watched the Hosho go down. I sent a clean up CL and DD after the big surface battle and put some 6" shells into her to finish the job.

It's now about five days later (there was a brief delay while Scott battled pneumonia). My CVs are all snugged safely in Pearl but he has a cloud of subs about who will be able to tell him when I venture forth. The KB has disappeared from my search planes and is likely spending a couple of days in Japan before heading south. No real news in the Philippines. I'm digging in at Clark Field and using my PBYs to ferry troops south. It may help Clark to hold out a little while longer. I did catch his bombers with a nice ambush north of Clark and let's just say that there are fewer Anns and Sonjas to darken my day. :-) If I could just get some supplies onto Davao it could hold out for a long long time. I've tried running some AKLs there but each has been sunk.

The POW has moderate damage and is heading to Australia for repairs and her initial upgrade. But the Repulse is still battle worthy and has refueled at Soerebaja. I'll keep her there a few days to see if she pick off any wayward invasion fleets.

His invasion of Tarakan has run into a buzz saw. The shore batteries have inflicted heavy damage on at least three AKLs and one AK and his ground troops are stymied for now. Also, in a bit of luck he had two CAs hit by mines and one of them took a dutch torpedo. They are both reported sunk but I think that will likely change. But, at least they took some damage. I did catch a resupply fleet off of Manus with a mixed surface force and took out three AKs and two PBs. I want to delay his building up airfields as long as possible to help me hang onto Rabaul.

Still digging in in Soerebaja and flying troops out of Singapore. Thus far I've gotten out two base forces and three battalions. And, I've run in about 15K extra supplies. As I've noted before, he is not pressing on Singapore so I want those guys to hold out as long as possible. And VP wise, it is worth more than the entire KB. Oddly, he has not launched a frontal attack on Hong Kong. He shell them every turn but other wise no real action. I've got lots of supplies and am happy to keep the factories out of his hands as long as possible.

China is a real problem. They need to do so much (move and build forts) and they are just not that good. He is really pressing towards Sian. I read on another thread how the oil up there can be a target so I'm moving troops to Urumchi to dig in. But, he has lots of troops coming up each axis of advance. The Flying Tigers did show up outside of Changsha and took some bombers down.

Other than the torpedo off of Tarakan my subs have not been doing too well. I got a hit on an AK and did put two into an AP near Japan but the rest has been misses and duds.
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Sic Transit Bloria,

Well, I got a little greedy and the Repulse sailed into Tarakan Bay hoping to catch some nice fat Japanese transports. Alas, I found about 22 IJN destroyers at 4,000 yards. I'm pretty sure the captain was unable to finish the sentence "Oh S##t" before 4 torpdeos from a Long Lance wall struck home. He took very little damage, the Repulse went down fast. Sigh.

His KB is somewhere out there and I don't know where. I"m a bit worried hes going to try a raid on the convoys taking precious fighters to Australia. Let's just hope I see him coming so I can get out of the way.

ON a review of the theaters. not much to report on the sub war. One of my subs got one of his AKs (It's the end of 1942). In the Bismark sea I've been reinforcing Rabaul before the storm. I've got the New Zealand Brigade moved in from Suva and about 50,000 supply. A few more odds and ends and engineers digging in. It hsould be a tough nut for him to crack. One of his RO boats put a torpedo into a CA of mine but then ran into two mines. [:D]

He put a regment inot Manila and I pushed him out again. He's back in force so it's about to go down. But, my main force is at Clark Field. About 46,000 supply and using 500 supply per turn. I wish I could tell the men to eat less! I've been flying the marine regiment Cagayan in the hopes of stiffing the defense there. I also have various transports flying supplies from dutch bases to to Cagayan as well as B-17s flying them from Cebu to Cagyan to help it hold out longer.

Tarakan has been a bright sport. He put ashore two units but took lots of damage from my shore guns. Several ships (DMS and AKLs have left in flames). I figure every turn I hold out is one less turn of oil for him. The same goes for Balipapan. NOt too strong on the ground but I have been builing up forts and pulling about 100,000 oil out for the loss of a couple of TKs. Soerebja continues to fortify. As does Singapore. Thus far I've flown a battalion and two base forces out and I'm also taking out an Indian brigade. Few troops to eat supplies and fewer to surrendur. He is not pushing that way and it's up to 84,000 supply (and the little factories there are still pushing bullets out the door). I'm at 4 level fortification and growing. Since it's self supporting I'm not too worried. He can take it when he wants but the longer he waits the harder it's going to be.

Just about every dutch unit on Sumatra is heading for Palembang. Again, forts and engineers to blow up oil fields when he finally decides to land.

Desultory action in the Burma Theater. He just took Moulimen with an RTA division. We'll see how that goes. I need the 500 supply per day to China because, as it stands, he is slapping me around there. He is making a major push towards Sian and the small oilfields. I can't do anything to his armour (armour alone against infantry is usually very vulnerable but not in this game). Has no one taught the Chinese about sticky bombs? [:)]

I did put the AVG into China and they have put a damper on his unescorted air raids (funny how losing 15 twin engine bombers will do that to the IJA). And, although it's December 29th Hong Kong still holds out. Not for long, but every turn they tie down two IJA divisions is one more turn I can get troops into Kukong.
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by CaptBeefheart »

What's the POW's tonnage? I don't think she'll fit in the Sydney yard, which can handle up to 30,000 tons as a level 30 shipyard (at least in scenarios I've played). You may need to send her to Cape Town or Colombo (although that's a bit risky this early on).

Like your AAR, but some screen caps would make it even better. If you hit reply from the previous post there will be an "embed picture in post" button and a "Click here to upload" function. You can use those to add pictures. I don't know the best screen capture program, but your "print screen" button will do that in a simple way. A kind, experienced AAR writer might stop by and explain the best way to do it.

Cheers,
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

A) a moment today to remember those who died at Pearl Harbor.

B) In the, thankfully, electron war raging between Scott and I it's Happy New Year. Farewell 1941!. As of January 2, 1942 he is still fighting to take Hong Kong, Wake, and Tarakan. I suspect he's going slow this time to minimize losses but no grand sea battles to report. A round up of the action is as follows. The KB has reared its ugly head and is north of Rabaul. On the bad news front, he caught a resupply convoy and sent about 8 AKs to the bottom. On the good news front, he missed his main chance. the New Zealand brigade and the Torres straits battalion had unloaded about 2 days prior and now sit, sharpening their knives and awaiting the invasion. In the Philippines he is clearly going to sit and wait for the army to starve. I've been flying the Marine Regiment to Cagayan and will do the same with support troops to lessen the supply drain. I've also withdrawn all the fighters. No sense in losing points for getting them shot down and having them eat supply. Clark Field has 44,750 supply points and is eating about 250 per turn.

He finally wised up that Singapore was getting resupply convoys from Palembang but not before I got Singapore supplies up to 93,700. Their factories are still churning out supply, and I've managed to fly an Indian brigade and three battalions out as well as two base forces. More are on their way to Sebang (where they go by sea to Colombo). That will save on VP when Singapore surrenders and, as noted, they don't draw down supplies. Any dutch bomber or search plane with range is flying supplies to either Singapore or Cagayan.

Not too much in the sub war. In the month of December I had reports of hits on three AKLs, 6 AKs, one PB and one TK. I also think a dutch sub sank a CA off of Tarakan.

In china I punished a couple of IJA brigades with counter attacks but his armor is untouchable in the north. I have one AT unit heading up there but it will be more than a month before it gets there. He still has not taken Hong Kong and he does not take any losses when he attacks, but, as I noted before, each turn he spends there is one more day he ties down two divisions. He is also bombarding Wuchow with BBs. I have a good Corps there and it is tying down two divisions. It should hold out for several months.

Two long range plans. First, I moved my carriers out of Pearl. No sense letting Scott see where they are each turn letting him use the KB with impunity. They rendezvoused with the Yorktown out of San Diego and they are heading to Australia. And, since Scott has the KB operating out of Truk (apparently) and with the death of the Hosho, it looks as if he has one carrier supporting operations in the DEI, so the Hermes has left port in Colombo to head for Soerebja. Let's see if it can stir up some mischief.

I saw CC's post on how to add images (thanks![&o]) but I don't know where I would find images to post. Is it something that I save during the turn?

Also, can anyone recommend a good intelligence tracking program and where I'd find it?

Last question, does anyone mess with US plane production on the West Coast or just leave it alone?

Thanks!
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by Capt. Harlock »

I also think a dutch sub sank a CA off of Tarakan.

That's useful -- CA's are the one type of ship the IJN never gets more of. Was it one of the feeble six-gun Kako class or one of the better ten-gun ships?
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by larryfulkerson »

ORIGINAL: Commander Cody
Like your AAR, but some screen caps would make it even better. If you hit reply from the previous post there will be an "embed picture in post" button and a "Click here to upload" function. You can use those to add pictures. I don't know the best screen capture program, but your "print screen" button will do that in a simple way. A kind, experienced AAR writer might stop by and explain the best way to do it.

Cheers,
CC
I've put together a sort of tutorial about how to post pictures to the forum and you can find it here:
how to post pictures on the forum

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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Larry,

Thanks for the tip. My next post will have what I hope to be my first posted image. C.H. I keep meaning to double check on the CA that went down. Maybe next turn. [:)]

The two big developments in the past couple to turns are the IJN invasion of Tulagi (see image) and the invincibility of IJA tanks against Chinese armies. It is a bit depressing to have him cross a river into the rough terrain and I at level two forts. He loses two tanks and I lose more than 100 squads. Sigh. Any advice would be most welcome. As for Tulagi, I think that he's setting up a siege of Rabaul. I'm sure his carriers are there, right now I just have to worry about the reinforcement convoys that are getting into the same neck of the woods albeit a good deal further south. I'm happy to have him spend fuel down here, I just don't want to lose my troops in the process. :-)

I need those convoys to get through. As of right now (and since the start of the game) I have zero fighter squadrons in Australia!
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Hopefully this shows the IJN invasion of Tulagi. I have two CAs and two CLs on the way to see if I can catch transports unloading since it takes them a long long time to get rid of cargo. I'm also keeping an eye out for the KB. No sense in losing more ships!

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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Hey it worked! Thanks Larry!![&o]
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Hello everyone,

time for a quick update. Scott has proven to be a sneaky so and so and has launched an airborne invasion of Port Blair. The tiny base force there held out on the first turn and As you can see from the image, however, I had a reinforcement convoy already on the way. I've now split it into three groups. Group 1 is the escorting CL which will now do a bombardment run (Scott has only a few para squads there so it might help). Group two is the faster transports carrying an Indian battalion (flown out of Singapore and hauled to Colombo and now to Port Blair) and a base force. Group three is the slower AKs with the remaining equipment. I have a squadron of buffaloes there low enough that they may avoid his fighter sweep and may be able to intercept his low flying nells. Keep your fingers crossed.

In other news, the KB continues to hover northwest of Rabaul and launch raids. One of these days I'll get fighters to Rabaul and contest it but for now they just sit and take it. They are hemmed in but have 35,000 supply so should be able to last awhile. Make him waste time taking it is my motto. And interesting side note is that no planes from the Akagi have been spotted which leads to to believe that it took some significant damage outside of Pearl. Let's hope!

He has also taken Hong Kong, Manila and Tarakan and is sweeping into the DEI but the Hermes on the way and may be able to pick off a couple of ships. Singapore flies out support troops (less eating and fewer vp for surrender). And, in the one bright spot, Wake continues to hold. I have some CAs on the way to bombard and the PBYs from Wake can fly in supplies so they may last a while longer. They can't be the Battlin' Bastards of Wake so perhaps they're the Wake Wrecking Crew. :-)

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John Barr
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John B.
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Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 6:45 pm
Location: Virginia
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RE: Grudge Match

Post by John B. »

Well the Port Blair relief force did not go as planned because I forgot to reset the new task force to "direct" route and it defaulted to "safer". Sigh, so the freighters went in and three were sunk. [:@] He took Port Blair and that is going to make it much tougher in Burma but nothing can be done right now. As a quick summary he has not taken Ambon but only after shore batteries took down a couple of transports. I have had a Dutch CL task force hovering outside of his air search zone and they're going to make a quick run in to see if I can catch some transports and smaller ships unloading. THe Hermes is just a day outside of Soerebja and may be able to pick off a couple of ships at long range before it has to skedaddle. One the good news front, a dutch fighter put a 50 kg bomb through the flight deck of a CVE (see image below). It's still operational, but it was a lift to morale.

He is hemming in Rabual with new bases (just took Shortlands) and he is pounding it daily with the KB. I'm not sure that's the best use of his best asset but I'm happy to play rope-a-dope there for a long time. I have lots of supply and some good troops (who are all resting under the bombardment). His concentration on Rabaul means my big US reinforcement convoys are now near Fiji and may make it to Australia with no real interference. I do have another task force lurking near shortlands and it is making it's on dash tonight to see if I can pick up some easy scalps. Bit of a risk because if my ships are there at dawn, the KB is just a few hexes to the north.

No major news in China, He seems to be afraid of the AVG and has not bombed at all there. I'm moving two squadrons out to help with the British evacuation route Singapore-Sebang-Colombo. Once he figures that out he's likely to start bombing again. Moving the AVG back also means the supply hit for the P-40 upgrade falls on India and not China. He is still pressing toward the oil in the far northwest. I've also discover the rest mode and hope to get my moral up more quickly.

Scott has bitten the bullet and come into Singapore. His armour took some losses last turn and then his follow up came in this turn (at least two divisions). He took heavy casualties and I'm always happy with that. I did have a counter attack set to try and catch his armor. I took losses from that, but the IJA was so beat up from its own shock attack so that the losses were pretty even in the second round. Now, I just hunker down and make him tie up troops before he finally takes the city. And, I keep flying out useless mouths (and useless VPs).

No news from the Philippines, just waiting it out. I withdrew my fighters a long time ago from there but he keeps flying sweeps. So, any ops loss he takes is a bonus and I don't lose the VP for him shooting down my guys.

Wake still holds out![&o] In the sub war, not too much, sank a CM and an AK and put a torpedo into an AMC (which may have sunk, I'm not sure).
John Barr
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