RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A)

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) - no lookin'!

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) - no lookin'!

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/20/2011 11:06:46 AM

Erkki

Posts: 1461
Joined: 2/17/2010
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February 14th

Ground combat at 84,55 (near Nanchang)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 20413 troops, 114 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 650

Defending force 24691 troops, 216 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 474

Japanese adjusted assault: 636

Allied adjusted defense: 82

Japanese assault odds: 7 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
684 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 43 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
12862 casualties reported
Squads: 521 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 234 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 17 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 16 (16 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 7

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
12th Ind.Mixed Brigade
51st Infantry Brigade
55th Infantry Brigade
8th Armored Car Co

Defending units:
21st Chinese Corps
50th Chinese Corps
70th Chinese Corps
49th Chinese Corps
3rd New Chinese Corps
23rd Group Army
16th Construction Regiment

+ bombers got another 1,000 or so. A couple of units managed to escape, damnit... I will merge a fresh 3rd of a division to that 650 AV stack and pursue. With another 1,000 AV from the South and 1200 from Wuchow we will be, hopefully seriously, threatening Changsha 2 to 3 weeks from now. Wuchow army will not move before the southern push cuts the railroad - I dont want to give him too many reasons to move his 6-corp stack that hangs along the railway far in the south.

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/21/2011 12:42:49 PM

Erkki

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February 14th

KB refitting at Singapore, more Chinese retreated.

Bataan: the Allies have there approx 1300 AV vs. 1600 of mine. Forts are 3 or 4. I cannot reduce the forts or keep the defenders pinned, because in this mod the Allied AAA is so lethal that even altitude of 20,000 results in 5-6% losses(with minimal bombing damage). Since the troops themselves cant do it, I'm moving the fresh 46th division to Singapore where it'll join the rest of the Java invasion force, while some other units will start invading the rest of the Philippines. I will leave some 800 AV to keep the Allies at Bataan.

Java invasion is planned for the first week of March, I'm going to take all the bases between Java and Singapore before that... Singkep, Billington etc. I think the Allies are flying search Catalinas(that dont get shot down by Japanese CAP despite of meeting it daily for months now) from at least 1 of those bases so I want to eliminate the early warning.

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/21/2011 1:29:04 PM

PaxMondo

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Erkki

because in this mod the Allied AAA is so lethal that even altitude of 20,000 results in 5-6% losses(with minimal bombing damage).

Wow. I thought John had re-adjusted the AA effect so that it wasn't quite so lethal ... particularly early war ... mmm Thanks for sharing this observation. I had been about to load his AA numbers into my mod ... I may hold off on that now.

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Post #: 123

RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/21/2011 1:43:23 PM

Erkki

Posts: 1461
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quote:

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erkki

because in this mod the Allied AAA is so lethal that even altitude of 20,000 results in 5-6% losses(with minimal bombing damage).

Wow. I thought John had re-adjusted the AA effect so that it wasn't quite so lethal ... particularly early war ... mmm Thanks for sharing this observation. I had been about to load his AA numbers into my mod ... I may hold off on that now.

Hey Pax. I bombed Singapore for some time with 4 Ki-21 units from Kota Bharu against no CAP at 15,000ft. Paper strength of those units was 104 planes combined. I lost daily 1 or 2 bombers to flak directly and 1-2 more to OPS, worst day I lost 5 to all reasons from those units alone. So about 4% losses on the average. Dunno how much AAA the Allies had there exactly as I managed to cut off and destroy some base force and other units before they retreated to Singapore, but compared to Allied AAA at airbases say 1 year from now it cant have been much.

BTW as you know my carrier units flew the standard missions at Pearl, I lost 44 KB fighters and strike aircraft - would have been even worse had the other half of the B5Ns flown too.

Brisbane and Soerebaja were nowhere that bad but I dont think either had dedicated AAA units present.

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/22/2011 12:19:28 AM

PaxMondo

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Woof. Either REALLY bad rolls, or the flak effect is nasty. Well, I'll be reading along to watch. Keep on going!!

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Post #: 125

RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/22/2011 9:25:19 AM

Erkki

Posts: 1461
Joined: 2/17/2010
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quote:

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Woof. Either REALLY bad rolls, or the flak effect is nasty. Well, I'll be reading along to watch. Keep on going!!

I hope it goes both ways and doing the Japanese CV upgrades are actually worth of it. So far Allies have been extremely passive in the air after the Pearl Harbor conga line attacks (where, by the way 100 Zeros and the KB AAA fire failed to down any of the 6 attacking B-17s that came in at 10,000ft IIRC).

February 15th and 16th

2 silent turns, most of the action was in China. China front is beginning to look much better... I have IDd 12 individual Chinese Corps in the south, within 7 days they will all be cut off and destroyed - 9 or 10 of them are already badly mauled, retreated at least once and bombed by 300 bombers a day in clear terrain for over a month. So in 2 weeks I will have about 3000 Av at the gates of Changsha while good part of the Chinese Southern Army will be destroyed. Changsha is reported to have 8 units but despite of 9/10 detection there are very, very few guns reported(less than 100 for weeks now) and the troop count isnt that high either, so I'm living in high hopes for now. Chinese have railed some units, at least 2 more Corps, to the South and they will most likely arrive to help Changsha but I still think we have good chance to inflict some serious damage here and maybe even get Changsha and the surrounding cities.

The Chinese are already retreating their 11-unit stack with 4 or 5 Corps they have in the middle, I will try to shock attack it with my 800AV in case the Chinese units move at different speeds... They'll get bombed by Ki-21s in hopes of slowing down some of the units. That 800 AV stack of mine is way closer to Changsha than the Chinese units so we'll see how this will work out. I'm flying recce with a dozen units in this area and the Chinese seem to be very "front loaded" - majority of their strength about to be cut off and destroyed!

< Message edited by Erkki -- 9/22/2011 9:28:36 AM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/23/2011 10:12:30 AM

Erkki

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February 17th, 18th and 19th

Not much going on... We're conquering small bases and moving stuff around for Phase 2 invasions of Java, Timor and Celebes. I bough a division from Japan, they have already been at sea for a day and I might even land them, in strat move mode, directly on Java! We will have the invasion fleet ready at Singapore as soon as we have our CVs ready... MKB arrives at Singapore tomorrow and will need refits of its own.

China: Chinese southern front collapsing, they are moving what was probably supposed to be their counter attack army back up to Changsha area, Kweilin reported to have 40 fighters 40 aux planes --> 12 Ki-43s sweep and 24 more escort bombers to hit the field tomorrow. In 5 days we will have a huge Chinese stack completely cut off at Pingsian, unless they start retreating tomorrow, but only 5 or so units can escape any more.

Burma: Lashio fell today (no opposition), the Allies are very passive. I'm moving as many construction and aviation support units as I can, building up Rangoon, Prome and Magwe first.

DEI: not much going, our air raids to Batavia are unopposed, just invaded Singkep today with 60 AV it will most likely fall tomorrow. Langsa in Sumatra fell too so the only bases still in Allied hands on Sumatra are Bengkalis(dealt with in a week) and Sabang(max 2 weeks).

Pacific: Allies very passive here too, CVL Shoho moves closer to Rabaul as one of our submarines was attacked by an SBD near Fiji today! We are moving construction units, SNLF guards and aviation support around. I will try to build the Tulagi area(5 bases close to each other), and move garrisons to Kirakira and Stewart Island. Between Tulagi and Rabaul I'll also build up Munda and Bougainville.

< Message edited by Erkki -- 9/23/2011 10:14:10 AM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/23/2011 5:23:02 PM

Erkki

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February 20th

China: another 6,000 dead Chinese to next to no Japanese losses... The Chinese southern front army must have suffered ~~70,000 losses already. ~50 Japanese bombers hit Kweiling's airfield at 6,000ft and manage to destroy 5 of AVG's H81s and damage 20-ish more - there are no P-40s flying CAP so the fighter pilots have nothing to do. The about to be cut off Chinese stack retreats(as does a second 4-corp stack in the middle of this theater, towards Changsha) but tomorrow we will have some 700 AV blocking their escape route, and Chinese reinforcements will be across a river.

Everywhere else: still silent as one of the divisions I'm going to use on Java is still some days from Singapore. Singkep falls, next target for this 60-AV SNLF unit is Pontiniak where the Allies have a Catalina squadron that every single day spots the KB, under a 100-Zero CAP umbrella, and gets away undamaged. The Java invasion fleet should be able to leave the port by the end of the month. If things remain silent I'll let the MKB provide air cover while once the mines have been swept, main body of KB will slip to the Indian Ocean to do some raiding.

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/23/2011 8:22:29 PM

Capt. Harlock

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quote:

Everywhere else: still silent

Alas, Smeulders' AAR has gone silent too. Well, it seems time to make hay while the sun shines. Have you given some thought to pushing the limits of the Japanese empire out a bit further than the original plan?

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/23/2011 8:53:38 PM

Erkki

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Joined: 2/17/2010
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

quote:

Everywhere else: still silent

Alas, Smeulders' AAR has gone silent too. Well, it seems time to make hay while the sun shines. Have you given some thought to pushing the limits of the Japanese empire out a bit further than the original plan?

If I can do that during the amphibious bonus then yes to some extent, but I havent yet planned anything or started prepping any units. We will see in a few weeks, but Smeulders might have made a very bad mistake with his Chinese southern counter attack(despite of stopping my 4000 AV in the North in a non-base hex where forts cant be reduced...) as I was able to bomb it daily for quite some time. Now that what used to be a 2500-3000 AV stack is reduced to maybe 15,000 men and around 100 AV, and only thing between me and Changsha is a crippled base force unit and what is left of 30th Army HQ unit when it was routed by 310 Japanese AV with armor support.

I'm still keeping most options open, I will first concentrate on the Java operation, Burma and building up the Solomons/New Guinea defenses. Once the Allies have CV Wasp some time in June or July(??? we have reinforcements +- 15 or 30 days, cant remember which) the carrier battle odds are at best 1,25:1 to my favor minus Japanese damage control so I'm not going to force a pure CV battle if I can help it. Before the first Allied offensive, the Allied CVs will probably sit at Panama, New York or something. The SBD a sub spotted yesterday near Fiji was probably a Marine one, unless Allies have already hauled enough fuel to Suva to make it refuel stop for their CVs but I dont think so.

In the Pacific I have planned to take just Nauru and possibly Ocean Island... Everything else is IMHO just asking for trouble especially when the things are still unsettled in the Indonesia. I will rather be an island or 2 short and with a 100% intact navy than with those islands but a couple of heavy ships less. In this particular game so far, the KB and IJN surface units have performed so pathetically, that I will not do anything with them that doesnt include using the "hammer" and combined arms. Also remember that I lost 1/4 of the KB elite pilots I had before December 7-9.

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/23/2011 9:04:52 PM

SqzMyLemon

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From: Alberta, Canada
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Hi Erkki,

Having established pretty much a historical perimeter myself and living with the consequences of that, I'd suggest you consider what Cpt. Harlock suggested and push the limits a little bit. I really regret not taking a few bases farther into the Central or S.E. Pacific to be able to interdict the Allied LOC to Australia. It opens up some raiding possibilities for you at relatively little cost and expenditure, and if/when things get tough you can just withdraw. I'd look at ways you can disrupt the Allied build up somehow, or at least introduce an element of risk. At the very least establish some bases farther out for intelligence purposes. It's a big Ocean out there and the sooner you get wind of something, the better you can react to it.

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/23/2011 9:20:31 PM

Erkki

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quote:

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

Hi Erkki,

Having established pretty much a historical perimeter myself and living with the consequences of that, I'd suggest you consider what Cpt. Harlock suggested and push the limits a little bit. I really regret not taking a few bases farther into the Central or S.E. Pacific to be able to interdict the Allied LOC to Australia. It opens up some raiding possibilities for you at relatively little cost and expenditure, and if/when things get tough you can just withdraw. I'd look at ways you can disrupt the Allied build up somehow, or at least introduce an element of risk. At the very least establish some bases farther out for intelligence purposes. It's a big Ocean out there and the sooner you get wind of something, the better you can react to it.

I know, but that also means stretching supply and communications lines and shortening the Allies'. Before Java landings are done, I will just keep moving troops to the, lets call it main perimeter: Marcus - Kwajalein - Jaluit - Tarawa - (Nauru in a week, soon after that Ocean) - Solomons - Milne Bay - Port Moreby - Horn Island. I already have quite good numbers of infantry, construction units, aviation support and base forces as well as AAA already in place or on their way.

Possible post-Phase 2 targets could be Gilberts... But just 1 Allied base makes it impossible to defend the other islands later on, and defending them all takes a lot of troops.

Currently my furthest H6K search plane base is at Tulagi. Ndeni for sure is empty, but it doesnt seem to allow a good defendive position of multiple, adjacent co-supporting bases the Tulagi area does.

What would you guys suggest the SOPAC invasion targets to be?

< Message edited by Erkki -- 9/23/2011 9:21:47 PM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/23/2011 9:53:30 PM

SqzMyLemon

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Hi Erkki,

I wouldn't consider looking at this from the perspective of having to defend far flung outposts with anything substantial. Small naval LCU's, the odd JNAF AF unit the further out you go. I'd write these troops off, only use troops you are willing to lose.

I'd only build up areas around Tulagi, Tabiteuea and such. Far enough to give you advance warning of any Allied moves, yet close enough that you can defend them and counter if so desired.

As to your question, I'd look at grabbing bases at Baker, Canton and maybe something in the Ellice Islands. These aren't meant to be strongpoints for you, but rather speed bumps for any Allied advance in the Central or S.E. Pacific. Something to let you know he's coming and a chance for you to determine how you want to counter, if at all.

Just my suggestions and I'm certainly no expert as my game clearly shows. I do know that if I had established these bases things would be different in my game. The lack of any ability to interdict Allied LOC's or harass the establishment of forward bases was one of my biggest mistakes.

< Message edited by SqzMyLemon -- 9/23/2011 9:54:52 PM >

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Post #: 133

RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/23/2011 10:16:33 PM

Erkki

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quote:

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

Hi Erkki,

I wouldn't consider looking at this from the perspective of having to defend far flung outposts with anything substantial. Small naval LCU's, the odd JNAF AF unit the further out you go. I'd write these troops off, only use troops you are willing to lose.

I'd only build up areas around Tulagi, Tabiteuea and such. Far enough to give you advance warning of any Allied moves, yet close enough that you can defend them and counter if so desired.

As to your question, I'd look at grabbing bases at Baker, Canton and maybe something in the Ellice Islands. These aren't meant to be strongpoints for you, but rather speed bumps for any Allied advance in the Central or S.E. Pacific. Something to let you know he's coming and a chance for you to determine how you want to counter, if at all.

Just my suggestions and I'm certainly no expert as my game clearly shows. I do know that if I had established these bases things would be different in my game. The lack of any ability to interdict Allied LOC's or harass the establishment of forward bases was one of my biggest mistakes.

I'll need to think about it. Maybe something like an AV, or one of those AMCs with aviation support and float planes, just 1 SNLF taking the place and using the shipborne or at least supported aerial search. Gilberts I might actually capture and build up but just 1 or 2 of the islands built and not too many units, some float planes...

Everything I've planned for the Tulagi area and NG is still going there, though, so for now its just a couple of SNLF inf units that I will have available for these extra targets.

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/25/2011 8:47:38 PM

Erkki

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February 21st

Only things that happen today besides China air raids, is that a recce plane spots a 6-ship strong Allied TF at the southern coast of Java. Whats it doing there? Certainly not leaving Java! Reported to have a CA and a CL + 2 DDs at least.

Tomorrow: CVs Akagi, Shokaku and Zuikaku with super heavy escorts and distant CA and CL squadron cover make a speed run to Java Sea and try to hit that TF. 2 CAs and 8 DDs from Oosthaven as well as 4 nearby submarines will also try to catch it. Palembang's 50 now torpedo-equipped bombers and 30 escort Zeroes are also alerted. 2 squads of Ki-43s from Oosthaven provide cover to to the CA squadron that closes in as well as KB, so I'm not too worried about Allied bombers(that dont seem to be set to naval attack any way).

< Message edited by Erkki -- 9/25/2011 8:49:32 PM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/25/2011 8:58:36 PM

Erkki

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Btw. I forgot to check if that air HQ at Palembang actually has any torps(I remember to have set it to have some but cant be sure...). Also I think Shokaku-3 also uses bombs, lmao.

The report line was this:

E13A1 Jake sighting report: 2 Allied ships at 51,102 near Tjilatjap , Speed 2 , Moving Northeast

That "speed 2" would suggest that its actually some earlier cripples that were disbanded in a port, but have now been put in a TF and readied to leave Java, or an SCTF that has been moved in only recently, after tha KB raid, now trying to hide and hit my Java invasion fleet. We'll see tomorrow.

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/26/2011 7:09:25 AM

Erkki

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February 22nd

In this campaign, IJN performance both at the sea and in the air has been abysmal. Another turn of high hopes ends up in... You guessed it: IJN doing nothing and not bothering to fly. Clear weather too.

A night surface combat sees Atago and Haguro together with 10 modern DDs surprise CA Houston, CL Tromp and 4 DDs. Battle takes place at 7 to 11 kyards. The Japanese ships fire EVERY SINGLE ONE of their torpedoes at Houston, and fail to hit! 2 gun hits are scored by the oldest of the Japanese DDs taking part to the battle, on DD Barker, that penetrate side and set it on fire below the decks twice.

Yesterday, KB and her ASW/SC TF had 0 ops points and ware supposed to make a 14-hex speedrun to Northern coast of Java. During the whole turn, it moved just 4 hex!!!!! Palembang's torpedo planes sight and attack the American TF (that, by the way, didnt have CAP on it, Allies keep making mistakes like this over and over but we are unable to exploit them) - however just 18 G3Ms out of more than 50 bombers fly(no, field is not overstacked and 20% extra AV too, air units assigned to HQ that is present) - and despite of clear weather, of course, they fail to hit a thing.

If the IJN surface and air units worked as I have used to see them working we would have, in this campaign, killed multiple battleships, CAs and at least half a dozen CLs more. But no...

< Message edited by Erkki -- 9/26/2011 11:15:07 AM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/27/2011 8:51:21 AM

Erkki

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February 23rd

Sub attack near Newcastle at 93,168

Japanese Ships
SS I-16

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Clark
DD Perkins
DD Cushing
DD Shaw

First hit: "Severe damage"
Second hit: "listing, counter flooding, **ENGINE DAMAGE**"
Sounds of a sinking ship between the air phases
1 Wildcat, 1 Devastator and 1 SBD listed in OPS losses

BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!

Sub attack near Newcastle at 93,168

Japanese Ships
SS I-16

Allied Ships
CV Saratoga
DD Conyngham
DD Perkins
DD Cushing
DD Shaw

< Message edited by Erkki -- 9/27/2011 8:52:02 AM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/27/2011 9:06:23 AM

Erkki

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Seriously though, I think I can now quit the whining and complaining. This was ridiculous luck... I have had multiple subs at the Australian East Coast positioned to intercept ships going in and out the Bass Strait as well as outside Sydney and Brisbane, 3-4 hex out to stay safe, to hit traffic along the coast as well as anything that is coming or going along the direct route from Sydney to Panama and West Coast/Hawaii.

This was 3 hex East from Sydney, there are 3 enemy TFs: 1 with 2 DDs(heading East), one with 7 ships(100+ planes with 1 CV and lots of DDs, heading West) and a 3rd with 6 ships(3 CVs reported but just 50 planes, heading West).

Since the hit CV was Yorktown, we can probably pretty safely presume that she and Saratoga were accompanied by Enterprise and Lexington. Allies normally lose just 1 or 2 planes to OPS per turn, this turn they lost 1 of each CV aircraft so what I think that happened is that the CV airgroups were evacuated aboard other carriers or a land base. High hopes? Definitely, but we MUST sink something Allied at some point of the war, right?

EDIT: the second sub action saw I-16 shoot 2 more torps, at Saratoga, but they missed. Too bad... I'll have 3 submarines between the current position of enemy CVs and Sydney 1 naval movement phase from now, and 2 more subs in 2 phases + 2 submarines where the enemy CVs are now. If Yorktown didnt sink and has speed of 1 or 2 only at cruising speed, she'll have to dodge some more subs. I-16 has just 1 torpedo left, though.

< Message edited by Erkki -- 9/27/2011 9:11:39 AM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/27/2011 10:07:23 AM

Erkki

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OK, so the good news first. The US CVs stopped at that hex so something is seriously damaged. The bad news is that the VP score didnt change enough today so most likely Yorktown isnt sunk. She still might sink next turn though, theres 2 hex between her and Sydney(is Sydney's drydock big enough for her, anyone?) and an extra non-dud torpedo will most likely sink her.

When Royal Sovereign sunk the VPs changed the same turn already, Japanese score this turn increased by just 20 and Allied by 2 so she didnt. The sinking sounds were from something we hit earlier, DD Barker or CL Dragon? Doesn't matter... Those Allied OPS losses would/could suggest that Yorktown's deck is closed, so there definitely is enough sys + float damage to potentially sink her.

EDIT: I just reviewed the turn. Instead of "severe damage" it said "severe flooding" instead! Whats are the chances of her not making the 2 hex with, say, sys damage 20 and flotation damage 80, with engine damage and speed of 1 or 2 hex a phase at cruise?

< Message edited by Erkki -- 9/27/2011 10:39:33 AM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/27/2011 2:19:07 PM

Erkki

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/27/2011 3:53:25 PM

Erkki

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Now that the location of USN CVs (as well as 1/2 of Force Z, possibly more RN BBs too) is known, the main body of our CV fleet is no longer needed in the DEI and the upcoming invasion of Java(last LCU is unloading from strategic movement mode, all ships loaded & ready in 5 days, D-day planned for March 1st-2nd), the KB is free to do some raiding or support a possible, and still unplanned, improvised invasion somewhere.

Looks like Sydney's drydock is big enough for Yorktown - had the I-16 hit Saratoga too or Saratoga instead of Yorktown, the closest dry dock would have been far, far away!

What we could now do with the KB once we have the last CVs refit & ready in 3 days:

A) Go get Yorktown from Sydney should she not sink by herself or be hit by more torpedoes tomorrow
B) Colombo & Trincomalee raid
C) Ndeni, Gilberts, Baker, Fiji, perhaps together with option A?

EDIT: I did some estimation: with 3 days of refit & refuel at Singapore + sail to Truk + 1 day of refuels would allow KB to reach strike range from Sydney with maximum 3 days of advanced warning in 21 days. 19� actually but something unexpected such as refueling escorts will happen for sure, so 21 days is probably a good estimate. KB now has only long range DDs with endurance 5000 or 6000 each so unlike during the Brisbane raid we dont need to constantly refuel, and we also have closest friendly bases much closer(so that we can set, say, Lunga or Milne Bay to be home ports) too.

Before Yorktown can be moved she needs to have at least all of the SYS damage fixed, right? Perhaps a carefully optimistic estimation but she should need at least 20-ish days of repairs before she can be moved... Wheres the next dry dock she can possibly use, Pearl?

EDIT2: KB's replenishment oilers would already be in a pretty good position to support an operation like this. Will take less than a week to move them to Truk, or to get to Sydney even quicker, the replenishment TF has enough fuel to completely refuel the KB at the moment so we could refuel KB at or nearby, say, Kavieng, Rabaul or Shortlands, that would mean 19 or even 18 days...

< Message edited by Erkki -- 9/27/2011 4:21:17 PM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/27/2011 7:33:56 PM

Puhis

Posts: 1737
Joined: 11/30/2008
From: Finland
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erkki

February 23rd

Sub attack near Newcastle at 93,168

Japanese Ships
SS I-16

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Clark
DD Perkins
DD Cushing
DD Shaw

First hit: "Severe damage"
Second hit: "listing, counter flooding, **ENGINE DAMAGE**"
Sounds of a sinking ship between the air phases
1 Wildcat, 1 Devastator and 1 SBD listed in OPS losses

BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!

When carrier sinks, planes onboard are listed as ground losses. So when you see about 30 SBDs as ground losses, it's Banzai-time...

< Message edited by Puhis -- 9/27/2011 7:37:13 PM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/28/2011 6:51:52 AM

Erkki

Posts: 1461
Joined: 2/17/2010
Status: offline

February 24th

China: Pingsian falls! 3000 Japanese casualties vs. 115,000 Chinese!

DEI: Pontianak falls!

SOPAC: Nauru falls!

LCDR Kaoryu Yamada, commander of I-16 who just earned himself a promotion and 2+ years off the front: also note the Catalinas and Do-24s that were overran by SNLF troops at Pontianak today! Now where is the Banzai smiley with a Hachimaki?

Attachment (1)

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/28/2011 8:57:10 AM

Erkki

Posts: 1461
Joined: 2/17/2010
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I dont know if its me, Smeulders, or what, but unlike IJN surface units and IJNAAF, the submarine force has so far done very well in this campaign. I have positioned subs around Pearl(5+ hex away), near Australian coast as well as in the DEI and also used them as mobile screens during the invasions and the KB raid.

I have so far lost 5 submarines as damaged, but none of them are in danger of sinking and 2 of them already repaired and back in action. All but one of these were by British DDs near Java.

Confirmed IJN submarine kills so far:

CV Yorktown
BB Royal Sovereign (together with the IJNAAF that made it leave the port to be torpedoed again)
1 x Dutch submarine
1 x huge xAP
3 x TK (one was worth 29 points)
AG (18 points)
4 x xAK
4 x xAKL
4 x other: 2 x HDML, an AM and an AMc

Hits, more or less possible kills:

CL Dragon
2 x xAK near Pearl

How are you guys using your subs? I'm sure the kills will start dropping sooner or later when Smeulders starts using more and better escorts, AASW and surface ASW patrols near bases and along shipping lines.

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/28/2011 10:25:38 AM

Puhis

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Joined: 11/30/2008
From: Finland
Status: offline

IMO good places for IJN subs are also South coast of Fiji, west coast of India and Ceylon, and around Perth. In my two PBEM games (both 5/42), my subs have have sunk about 50-60 ships, mostly xAKLs and xAKs, but also some TKs, APs and warships. I have one sub ace in both games.

In late 1942 or early 1943 happy days of IJN subs are definitely over. Subs don't get kills, all they can do is die.

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Post #: 146

RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/28/2011 10:33:07 AM

Erkki

Posts: 1461
Joined: 2/17/2010
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Puhis

IMO good places for IJN subs are also South coast of Fiji, west coast of India and Ceylon, and around Perth. In my two PBEM games (both 5/42), my subs have have sunk about 50-60 ships, mostly xAKLs and xAKs, but also some TKs, APs and warships. I have one sub ace in both games.

In late 1942 or early 1943 happy days of IJN subs are definitely over. Subs don't get kills, all they can do is die.

I have 5 subs, mainly ROs, near Colombo too but they havent seen a thing yet. Convoys from Africa should sail past 2 and convoys from Aden-Karachi-Delhi should be met by 3. Its very possible that the Allies have just evacuated everything or at least are not sending in reinforcements.

I have 1 sub near Fiji and 2 near Noumea but they havent seen anything yet either, I might reposition them near Pago Pago...

< Message edited by Erkki -- 9/28/2011 10:34:09 AM >

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/28/2011 4:47:44 PM

Erkki

Posts: 1461
Joined: 2/17/2010
Status: offline

February 25th

A very silent day, even most of the China CAS sorties are canceled or aborted because of bad weather. I now have 4,500 AV across a river from Sian and 1,200 more in the rough wooded hex to the SE. It might be just enough... Situation consolidating near Changsha too, most of the surviving Chinese units are retreating back within the city hex, I might not be able to decimate them any more in open ground.

Last LCU at Singapore ready tomorrow, and packing up for Java invasion begins. We land at Kirakira and Stewart Island tomorrow and engineers, AAA and base force units arrive in week to Tulagi, Munda and Tassafaronga. CV Shoho and 2 powerful surface action squadrons as well as a light submarine screen and Rabaul's torpedo-enabled G4M1s providing cover.

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RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/28/2011 5:02:25 PM

SqzMyLemon

Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009
From: Alberta, Canada
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erkki

I dont know if its me, Smeulders, or what, but unlike IJN surface units and IJNAAF, the submarine force has so far done very well in this campaign. I have positioned subs around Pearl(5+ hex away), near Australian coast as well as in the DEI and also used them as mobile screens during the invasions and the KB raid.

I have so far lost 5 submarines as damaged, but none of them are in danger of sinking and 2 of them already repaired and back in action. All but one of these were by British DDs near Java.

Confirmed IJN submarine kills so far:

CV Yorktown
BB Royal Sovereign (together with the IJNAAF that made it leave the port to be torpedoed again)
1 x Dutch submarine
1 x huge xAP
3 x TK (one was worth 29 points)
AG (18 points)
4 x xAK
4 x xAKL
4 x other: 2 x HDML, an AM and an AMc

Hits, more or less possible kills:

CL Dragon
2 x xAK near Pearl

How are you guys using your subs? I'm sure the kills will start dropping sooner or later when Smeulders starts using more and better escorts, AASW and surface ASW patrols near bases and along shipping lines.

This reinforces my thoughts that each game is somehow always different for any number of reasons. I'm sure Bart is applying many of the tactics he does with me in terms of escorting his transports and surface ships, yet clearly he's getting hit. In our game my subs were easliy chased off or couldn't find anything to attack, and I patrolled aggressively early and often around the major bases. I ended up pulling mine back to conserve fuel and use to interdict possible invasion TF's. They still have done squat for me the entire game. I have to say, I'm envious of your success...keep it up.

I lost Hiryu to one lucky torpedo hit against Bart, so it's nice to see the favour returned, even if not by me.

< Message edited by SqzMyLemon -- 9/28/2011 5:23:51 PM >

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Post #: 149

RE: Aboard the Red Castle - Erkki(J) vs. Smeulders(A) -... - 9/28/2011 5:08:41 PM

Erkki

Posts: 1461
Joined: 2/17/2010
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

quote:

ORIGINAL: Erkki

I dont know if its me, Smeulders, or what, but unlike IJN surface units and IJNAAF, the submarine force has so far done very well in this campaign. I have positioned subs around Pearl(5+ hex away), near Australian coast as well as in the DEI and also used them as mobile screens during the invasions and the KB raid.

I have so far lost 5 submarines as damaged, but none of them are in danger of sinking and 2 of them already repaired and back in action. All but one of these were by British DDs near Java.

Confirmed IJN submarine kills so far:

CV Yorktown
BB Royal Sovereign (together with the IJNAAF that made it leave the port to be torpedoed again)
1 x Dutch submarine
1 x huge xAP
3 x TK (one was worth 29 points)
AG (18 points)
4 x xAK
4 x xAKL
4 x other: 2 x HDML, an AM and an AMc

Hits, more or less possible kills:

CL Dragon
2 x xAK near Pearl

How are you guys using your subs? I'm sure the kills will start dropping sooner or later when Smeulders starts using more and better escorts, AASW and surface ASW patrols near bases and along shipping lines.

This reinforces my thoughts that each game is sowehow always different for any number of reasons. I'm sure Bart is applying many of the tactics he does with me in terms of escorting his transports and surface ships, yet clearly he's getting hit. In our game my subs were easliy chased off or couldn't find anything to attack, and I patrolled aggressively early and often around the major bases. I ended up pulling mine back to conserve fuel and use to interdict possible invasion TF's. They still have done squat for me the entire game. I have to say, I'm envious of your success...keep it up.

I lost Hiryu to one lucky torpedo hit against Bart, so it's nice to see the favour returned, even if not by me.

Reportedly, he only had 7+8 ships in 2 TFs, with 3 carriers among them(pretty sure the 3rd was there, although it didnt show up in the combat reports it was in the enemy TF info...). That might have been only 4 DDs per CV, with no dedicated ASW TF. Yesterday when they retreated to Sydney there were 3 TFs reported, one seemed to have a mixture of ASW-capable ships he could scrap up from Sydney, and the 2 CVTFs.

On Royal Sovereign... Yeah well 8 subs undetected in a single hex + again just 4 escort ships sure helps.

On the other hand I havent hit his xAKs and TKs that much, most of the encounters near Pearl end in sub firing at a DD or PC or the DD/PC attacking the sub.

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