RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28

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RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/10/2015 9:42:13 PM

apbarog

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20 Nov 42 - Introduction

I have the replay but not the turn yet, so I don't know all the details about how damaged my ships are. It was a long replay, one that was worth watching all of the detail.

First some of my SCs attack I-17 near Tagula, to little effect. The subs are absolutely everywhere. Then a DMS goes after RO-33 in the same area, but gets no hits.

During the night phase, I watched as an enemy task force left Torokino and headed towards Tagula or Rossel Island. Dutch sub O24 took a shot at cruiser Nachi on the way, but unfortunately missed. That would have been a nice interception. Then Dutch sub KXV spots the same task force, but doesn't get a shot. I don't know what the enemy's intended destination was, but it went to Rossel, and ran into my small cruiser guarding force.

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Post #: 721

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/10/2015 9:43:11 PM

apbarog

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20 Nov 42 - The Battle of Rossel Island

Moonlight is 92% now, and the skies are clear. This is excellent for the Allies. Allied radar detects the enemy at 20000 yards. Visibility is 12000 yards, but the task forces see each other at 8000 yards.

The combatants were:
CA Nachi
CA Aoba
CA Kako
DD Yamagumo
DD Ayanami
DD Asagiri
DD Fuyo
DD Hasu

CA New Orleans
CA Vincennes
CL Helena
DD Duncan
DD Bancroft

The fight was fairly even. Nachi is hit 7 times and has heavy fires. Kako took 1 hit and is on fire. Fuyo took 1 hit, is on fire and had heavy damage. Hasu took a minor hit. On my side, New Orleans took 4 hits and is on fire, Vincennes took a minor hit. It looked like we each had a heavy cruiser with major damage. No Japanese torpedoes hit. The range did close to 2000 yards at one point, but most of the torpedo shots were directed at my destroyers, and missed.

Allied troops then begin to unload at Rossel Island.

Then another naval battle breaks out at Rosselat daybreak, between a pared down Japanese force and the same Allied ships as before. Nachi, Asagiri, Fuyo, and Hasu take part.

The Japanese take the worst of this fight. The fight starts at 24000 yards and closes no closer than 8000 yards. Nachi takes 8 more hits, is on fire with heavy damage. Asagiri takes 1 hit and is on fire. Fuyo takes 12 hits and is sunk. On my side, Vincennes takes 2 minor hits. Duncan takes major damage with 4 hits and heavy fires. Bancroft takes a minor hit. The enemy leaves the area without engaging my transports.

Exiting Rossel, CL Helena is hit by a torpedo from I-174. Damage is still unknown, but it didn't list fires or damage, so I'm hopeful.

In the morning, the first air raid had 6 Bettys escorted by 15 Zeros. No CAP was possible here. The Bettys all missed, targeting cruiser Vincennes.

In the afternoon, 6 Bettys with 7 Zeros attacked but missed 2 of my cruisers.

The Japanese bombardment attack shows just the II/19th Naval Guard Unit defending. I should take the base soon.

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Post #: 722

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/10/2015 9:44:06 PM

apbarog

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20 Nov 42 - The Battle of Milne Bay

The invasion task forces approach the coast at night and uninterupted. Unloading begins at night.

In the morning, a large airstike approaches (from Rabaul I think). 53 Zeros escort 13 Nells and 9 Bettys. I had assigned 2 fighter squadrons from my carriers to LR CAP Milne Bay. One got lost and didn't show up. The other showed up but in reduced numbers. 8 fighters intercepted this raid. Only one torpedo hit was achieved, and it was on battleship New Mexico.

The next raid came from the Shortlands area, and had 16 Bettys escorted by 17 Zeros. Only 3 F4F-4s were on CAP. Luckily, no torpedoes found their mark.

In the afternoon, a big carrier strike attacked my Milne Bay shipping. 37 Kates and 44 Vals with 53 Zeros attacked, brusing aside my 5 Wildcats.

Battleship Idaho took 4 bomb hits, 3 torpedo hits, is on fire and is heavy damage.

xAK Carolinian took 1 bomb hit.

xAP Ormiston took 1 bomb hit and is on fire. Some troops were lost.

The Val hits in this attack were with the small bombs.

Then another raid hits. 12 Kates and 9 Vals put a bomb on xAP Merkur, 3 bombs and a torpedo on BB Idaho, a bomb on AK Electra, and 2 torpedoes on xAK Aloe. Some troops were lost.

Finally the obligatory defender bombardment attack occurs. Milne Bay has the 86th Naval Guard Unit, the 4th Indpt SNLF Coy, and the 51st Const Co. I will take the base with what has already unloaded.

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Post #: 723

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/10/2015 9:44:49 PM

apbarog

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20 Nov 42 - The Battle of Goodenough Island

At night, 3 APDs start unloading a small Allied unit at Goodenough. I hope that it is good enough to take the island. I don't know yet if the island is defended.

During the day, the APDs attract attention. 21 Bettys attack, but all torpedoes miss.

Then a carrier raid approaches. The raid came from a hex adjacent to where KB was, and may from other carriers just arriving that missed the big battle. 30 Vals escorted by 18 Zeros attack. 2 APDs are sunk, 1 remains. The troops are all on the island by this time.

The one remaining APD, Crosby, is targeted by 13 Kates, but all miss.

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Post #: 724

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/10/2015 9:45:47 PM

apbarog

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20 Nov 42 - The Carrier Battles

At daylight, enemy carriers are spotted to the northeast by Lae. I had guessed that KB would show up one hex southeast of Umboi Island to try to get a 7 hex attack on Milne Bay. Instead, it showed up 2 hexes southwest of that, and used nearby airfields for extra LR CAP.

But the first strike went to the enemy, and it came from Port Moresby, not from KB. The fight was 23 A6M2 Zeros, 16 A6M3 Zeros, 12 Oscars and 45 Vals versus 18 Fulmars and 118 F4F-4s. The CAP was more than adequate and got the better of the fight. Only 2 bombers got through and they were shot down by flak. This battle went poorly for the enemy, but I think that it was key to wearing down my CAP for the future fight.

The next morning raid was the big one from KB. 93 Zeros escorted 106 Kates and 96 Vals. Allied CAP was 18 Fulmars and 102 F4F-4s. The CAP did well from the standpoint of planes shot down versus lost, but of the more than 200 bombers in the raid, 170 got through the CAP. It was looking very dire when that happened.

CV Illustrious was hit by 4 bombs, but the armored flight deck saved the day and all appeared to not penetrate.

CV Wasp was hit by 2 bombs and 1 torpedo, and showed heavy damage.

CV Saratoga was hit by 1 bomb.

Battleship Washington was hit by 5 bombs but took little damage.

CV Lexington was hit by 2 bombs and 1 torpedo, and is on fire.

Battleship Prince of Wales took 1 non-penetrating bomb hit.

Battleship North Carolina too 2 bomb hits and 1 torpedo hit.

It's always gut wrenching to watch your fleet get bombed, but I have to consider myself lucky to have this amount of damage from 170 bombers that got through CAP.

I don't know the severity of the damage yet. I may not get the actual turn until tomorrow. I did see some of my strike aircraft from a later strike diverting to other carriers and some to Australia, so there is some serious damage somewhere.

It would be awesome to not lose any carriers from this monumental fight.

The next strike was a tiny one from KB, with 5 Jakes escorted by 8 Zeros. Over 70 fighters were on CAP, and the raid was easily taken care of.

Now it was my turn. I sent 161 SBDs and 75 TBFs escorted by 66 F4F4s. (I wish I hadn't bothered trying to LR CAP Milne Bay and sent more escorts.) On CAP was huge force, obviously augmented by LR CAP. The enemy put up 76 A6M2 Zeros, 7 A6M3 Zeros, 22 Oscars, and 42 Nicks. My escorts performed well against the Nicks but got the usual thrashing that most escorts get from everything else. The US bombers did seem to put up more of a fight and prolonging some combats. Of my 236 bombers, 195 got through the CAP.

CVL Ryujo took 1 bomb hit.

CVL Shoho took 1 bomb hit and is on fire.

Battleship Haruna soaked up 4 bombs.

Cruiser Furutaka took 2 bomb hits and is on fire.

CV Soryu took 3 bomb hits and is on fire.

CVL Zuiho took 2 bomb hits and is on fire.

CV Zuikaku took 5 bomb hits and is on fire.

CV Shokaku took 1 bomb hit.

None of my torpedo bombers got a hit, not even a dud. Zuiho looked most badly damaged. Zuikaku was hurt also. There were no ammo or fuel explosions.

Then a couple of US airstrikes occur attacking KB, both without any escort. First 18 SBDs are destroyed, then 15 TBFs are eliminated.

It is interesting that I had staggered my strike altitudes. I have 3 carrier task forces. They had their strikes set at 10k, 11k, and 12k, with escorts at each altitude. I expected to get separate strikes this way, but I got one big coordinated strike and 2 small unescorted strikes later. I knew that coordination could occur with strikes/escorts at the same altitude. I didn't know that it could occur at different altitude settings. Not complaining. A big coordinated strike probably worked out better for me in this instance.

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Post #: 725

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/10/2015 9:46:24 PM

apbarog

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20 Nov 42 - Other action

14 F4F-3s sweep Horn Island but find no CAP.

I was trying something interesting by attempting to sneak an APD from Australia to Mindanao to rescue that base fragment that I wanted to save. The APD was spotted near Carnavon, and then again north of there. It then disappeared but was just spotted trying to pass east of Java. 7 Sonias tried to bomb it but missed. I'll send it back to Australia now, with surprise lost completely. I thought I might get lucky and get behind his search arcs and might find nothing searching in the Philippines any more. It was a fun attempt.

After the carrier battles took place, my B17s hit Port Moresby's airfield. CAP was minimal with 21 fighters. Damage was excellent, doing 42 airbase hits, 4 supply hits, and 90 runway hits. Followup fragmented raids added to this damage some.

B24s bombed the II/19th Naval Guard unit on Rossel Island.

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Post #: 726

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/10/2015 9:47:11 PM

apbarog

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20 Nov 42 - Summary

I haven't received the turn yet, just the replay, but all in all I have to be happy with today's fighting. I'm guessing that I will lose a slow battleship and Milne Bay, and probably a couple of transports. I lost 2 APDs. I have carriers that are damaged, but if no subs interfere, I may not lose any. I've done damage to the enemy carriers. I can't count on any enemy carriers sinking, but I'll gladly trade some damaged carriers for some enemy damaged carriers. Zuikaku will need extensive yard time. If he runs it to Rabaul, which is possible, I may be able to bomb it.

The bottom line is that I've landed at Rossel Island and Milne Bay, and I think that I will take both bases shortly. With Milne Bay and Rossel, and a couple of the island in between, I will have bases that have airfields that can be built rather large, and can threaten more of Port Moresby as well as Rabaul and the Shortlands area.

I expect fighting ships to be broken out of KB, and they will head to my invasion points ASAP. I think that I will be pulling out all ships next turn, since I think I've landed enough to take the bases.

Port Moresby's airfield is badly damaged. This will help my exit from the area.

Considering the number of bombers that got through both of our CAP, both sides should consider themselves lucky that more carriers weren't damaged or sunk.

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Post #: 727

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/10/2015 10:55:39 PM

jwolf

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It can be maddening waiting for the official details on these critical battles. I hope you get good news -- or at least not much bad news -- when you receive the turn. It's really hard to sink capital ships without torpedoes and that gives an enormous advantage to the Japanese during 1942.

It was cool to read about this turn's combat in both AARs as what each player sees is rather different. I can't go into more detail obviously but it certainly adds to the tension you both feel.

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Post #: 728

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/11/2015 4:30:20 AM

apbarog

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20 Nov 42 - More detail

Now that I have the turn, I can list more detail about how this battle went.

Port Moresby has more fighters than yesterday, despite my B-17 bombing. Maybe some of his damaged CV groups diverted there? B-17s will strike again.

Buna is still damaged but has no planes there now.

Rabaul has lots of planes: (128F/84B/90)

Here's a list of my damaged ships (SYS/FLOT/ENG/FIRES):

BB Idaho (45/77/31/2) Badly hurt. Needs many days of bad weather and good luck. It's a goner.
BB New Mexico (1/4/1/0)
AK Electra (28/10/7/0
xAP Mericur (25/0/7/0)
xAP Ormistan (12/8/8/1)
BB North Carolina (1/4/0/0)
CV Wasp (36/25/2/0) Planes diverted.
CV Illustrious (4/0/1/0) Love the armored flight deck. Took 4 bombs.
BB Washington (3/0/1/0)
AP Lycaon 5/17/2/0)
CA New Orleans (26/20/1/0)
CA Vincennes (13/12/7/0)
CL Helena (17/19/3/0)
DD Duncan (52/11/14/12)
DD Bancroft (12/0/3/0)

Air losses:

106 Vals
45 A6M2 Zeros
39 Kates
13 Oscars
7 Bettys
5 Nicks
5 A6M3 Zeros
4 Jakes
3 Nells

39 F4F-4s
37 TBFs
37 SBDs
6 Fulmars
3 B17s

I lost 32 pilots KIA. My opponent pointed out that he lost 46 planes to ship flak. I lost 1.

I'm basically running away with just about everything at full speed. My surprise positioning of my carriers escaped his sub coverage, so a full speed run should stay ahead of most of them as I head home. The shipping at Milne Bay will just have to do its best to run. I expect more losses to Bettys. And his subs will take more of a toll.

I unloaded most of each unit at Milne Bay. I think I have enough to take the base. Same for Rossel. I'll know if that is correct tomorrow.

Note on the map that the carrier battle was between KB just southeast of Lae and my carriers. He has more carriers on the map: east of Lae and northeast of Umboi Island. Some of these carriers attacked my APDs at Goodenough. All appeared to be heading toward KB, so I think that he hadn't gotten everything together that he wanted before our battle. He had enough though.

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RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/11/2015 4:40:01 AM

BBfanboy

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Considering what you were up against you did quite well! Sure, some of it may be luck but your positioning of forces and composition of units was the thing that prevented disaster (so far!)

Hoping you can pull back without heavy losses ...

_____________________________

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: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/11/2015 12:53:33 PM

jwolf

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What about the Lexington? I'm worried about that one. Saratoga shouldn't have much damage from just the one bomb, but North Carolina came out very well after eating a fish.

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RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/11/2015 3:47:32 PM

apbarog

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Oops, I missed Lexington. She is 27/8/6/0. Not too bad, mostly SYS damage.

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Post #: 732

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/14/2015 1:51:42 AM

apbarog

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21 Nov 42

I did high speed runs with just about all of my invasion task forces, including my carriers. I didn't fear enemy carriers, just subs. This strategy worked very well. Almost no sub activity today. The activity that did occur was mostly my SC's hunting subs. All of my important shipping got away, mostly unseen. Very happy with this.

I did screw up and left my Rossel Island invasion task force at Rossel Island. I think that I reset its destination but didn't stop it from unloading. Anyhow, I lost an xAK. There's a small enemy task force to the north, and about half a dozen Kates flew to Rossel. Must be a small carrier. I'll run today and hope for the best.

Badly damaged battleship Idaho limps out of Milne Bay and amazingly is not attacked, although it is spotted. Moving just 2 hexes a day is awful. I will have to try to hide it in ports for awhile.

At Milne Bay, battleships Yamato and Mutsu, with 2 cruisers and 4 destroyers, bombard my troops. Some disruptions occur.

During the night phase, my subs mined the hex just northwest of Milne Bay and just northeast of Milne Bay, at Ferguson Island. Cruiser Myoko, part of the Yamato task force returning to Rabaul, finds the Ferguson minefield, but the combat report doesn't show a mine hit.

Along the New Guinea coast by Madang, well to the north, a carrier task force with Akagi is spotted by Finback, but the sub misses the carrier with 4 torpedoes. Akagi is one of the undamaged carriers, so it looks like all of the big carriers are in this area. Damaged carriers are not seen going to Rabaul, but they could go to Manus or Kavieng or just straight to Truk or Babeldaop. My guess is Babeldaop based on the current location of Akagi, and the fact that this is less expected than Truk. I have subs trying to cover both.

About 50 B-17s bomb Port Moresby, and catch more planes on the ground. Most were probably damaged already. I get 5 Vals, 1 Oscar, and 1 Zero on the ground here. Time to rest the bombers for awhile.

Total air losses today were 11 Zeros (9 due to Ops, which is oddly high), 5 Vals, 2 Oscars, 2 Bettys, 1 Nell, and 1 Kate. I lose 3 B-17s.

B-26s bomb Horn Island's airfield. Some damage is done. No planes were there, but some type of non-fighter non-bomber unit is there now.

At Rossel Island, I attack and capture the base. It went as a 4 to 1 attack.

At Tagula, where I own the base, I attack and got a 3-1 attack. I'm wearing down the enemy para unit here, which is out of supply.

At Milne Bay, I attack and get a 3 to 1 attack, and lower the forts to 1. Enemy casualties are 453, while I lose 89. And this was after the Yamato bombardment. I should take the base soon.

In the near future, I will need to force in some supply to Milne Bay. I will do so with carrier support.

The Horn Island invasion task forces move up the coast. The transports are spotted.

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RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/14/2015 2:10:31 AM

jwolf

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It's surprising (and lucky!) that Idaho wasn't attacked by the Yamato TF. Probably just one or two big shells would have put it down. Do you have any destroyers escorting the Idaho? Otherwise it's a sitting duck for the Jap subs. I'm waiting with apprehension for your supply runs to Milne Bay; that may be a tricky operation. But this has gone pretty well so far, congratulations!

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RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/14/2015 2:15:43 AM

apbarog

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Thanks jwolf. I'm not declaring it a complete success yet. I could still be counter-invaded. And it will be awhile until these bases can defend themselves against air raids, with many big enemy bases in range.

I can use APD's on high speed fast transport runs to bring in limited supply. The trick will be bringing in more supply on xAKLs. I'll need adequate CAP for that.

Hopefully my mines will dissuade the enemy from coming back soon.

Yes, I have one destroyer with Idaho. Deboyne Island is where I will try to hide first. It's just one hex from the current location. The good thing is that Deboyne has never been reconned. The enemy doesn't know that I airlifted troops to here awhile ago. But I'm sure when Idaho disappears, all of the bases will get a closer look.

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RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/14/2015 3:48:01 AM

BBfanboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: apbarog

21 Nov 42

At Milne Bay, battleships Yamato and Mutsu, with 2 cruisers and 4 destroyers, bombard my troops. Some disruptions occur.

I bet he guessed that Idaho was so badly damaged it would stay at Milne Bay hoping to disband as soon as you took the base. He also wanted to help his troops to stave off the fall of the base.

Along the New Guinea coast by Madang, well to the north, a carrier task force with Akagi is spotted by Finback, but the sub misses the carrier with 4 torpedoes. Akagi is one of the undamaged carriers, so it looks like all of the big carriers are in this area. Damaged carriers are not seen going to Rabaul, but they could go to Manus or Kavieng or just straight to Truk or Babeldaop. My guess is Babeldaop based on the current location of Akagi, and the fact that this is less expected than Truk. I have subs trying to cover both.

KB's position looks perfect for defending Port Moresby against your CVs. Your CVs last turn looked like they were trying to sneak up to PM.
As for where he will go with damaged CVs - it depends on how badly damaged. Anything in real danger would head for nearest base and disband to fight fires and stabilize flooding. Anything with moderate damage needing base assistance to speed repairs would likely choose Truk because of the Fleet HQ there and the port size. I would only go to Babeldaob if there was an AR there and Japan does not get many ARs in stock AE, but not sure what you are playing. Lightly damaged carriers would likely head for the nearest shipyard - Manila or Yokohama.

Total air losses today were 11 Zeros (9 due to Ops, which is oddly high), 5 Vals, 2 Oscars, 2 Bettys, 1 Nell, and 1 Kate. I lose 3 B-17s.

The high ops losses could be Zeros operating CAP from PM airfield which was damaged to start with and even more damaged after the turn. Vals would have been on Naval Strike expecting your CVs to close in to PM.

B-26s bomb Horn Island's airfield. Some damage is done. No planes were there, but some type of non-fighter non-bomber unit is there now.

Sounds like search aircraft at HI.

The Horn Island invasion task forces move up the coast. The transports are spotted.

If I were the Japanese spotting an AP where they were seen I would suspect you were moving support troops up to Cooktown or Portland Roads, not an invasion of HI.

_____________________________

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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Post #: 736

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/16/2015 1:42:24 AM

apbarog

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22 Nov 42

RO-60 takes a shot at and APD in the big transport task force leaving Milne Bay. It misses.

APD Peary was on a secret mission to sneak from Australia to Mindanao, or at least try to. It was spotted passing south of Java, and aborted the mission. I went southwest for a bit, then was jogging to the west as it was being tracked. Despite my efforts, CA Mogami and 2 destroyers made a nice mid-ocean intercept and sank it. Was a fun attempt. My opponent is very adept at keeping search capabilities everywhere, it seems.

ADP Crosby had been torpedoed when leaving Rossel the other day. It was very badly damaged, and the only chance it had was to return to Rossel or Tagula and disband in port. Today it was found by I-174 and finished off with a torpedo.

My Horn Island task forces ran over I-30. The sub was spotted before it could take a shot.

Helens escorted by Zeros from Buin bomb my small infantry unit on Goodeneough. This unit is my most forward unit, and is fulfilling its purpose as being a target. I have no engineers here and probably won't send them. Work continues elsewhere.

B-26s bomb the Kure 2nd SNLF unit at Horn Island. My task force position today could still look like a reinforcement convoy to my most northern coastal base. But tomorrow, we move adjacent to Horn Island. Just to make my enemy think a little, I choose to move to one hex southwest of Horn Island, like I may pass through the straits and head further west. I do a recon of Darwin today just to reinforce the fear factor. I could have landed at Horn Island after a full move of 6 hexes, but I'd rather get the landing started with the night phase.

Sub Saury finds a big xAP task force at Cagayan. I had intel that the 4th Infantry Division was moving here from Cebu. It is. Mindanao will get cleaned up next apparently. It will take some time just to move to my mountain hideout.

I attack at Rossel Island and continue to eliminate enemy squads, with no loss to me.

I attack at Milne Bay, and surprisingly get a poor 1 to 2 odds, and the forts stay at 1. However, the Japanese lose heavily with 270 casualties and half of those are destroyed squads. My losses are just 21 casualties and they are disrupted. I rest today, as my disruption is pretty high.

I begin to prepare ships to bring supply to my invasions, particularly Milne Bay. The first will be fast transport APDs to hold me over until slower cargo ships can arrive, with support.

Today many carriers are seen at Rabaul. My carriers are not seen as they continue down the Australian coast. I will be sorting out damaged ships soon, sending them where they need to go, and reorganizing what is left to help bring more stuff into the combat area.

BB Idaho made it to Deboyne Island and is now hiding in port. This was its only hope for survival, essentially practically beaching itself there and hoping for the best.

Horn Island should be interesting tomorrow.

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RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/16/2015 2:33:27 AM

jwolf

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quote:

... small infantry unit on Goodeneough. This unit is my most forward unit, and is fulfilling its purpose as being a target.

I wonder what the e-troops think of that! Good luck at Horn Island.

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Post #: 738

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/16/2015 2:39:03 AM

apbarog

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Well, it wasn't planned that way, but that's how it worked out. I had an engineer and base unit in the invasion task forces, and they were planned to go to Goodenough. But the area was just too hot to move regular transports all the way to Goodenough, and I would have lost them all, so I diverted them to unload at my other island invasion targets.

So if anywhere gets counter-invaded, I would just rather it be Goodenough.

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Post #: 739

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/17/2015 7:51:26 PM

apbarog

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23 Nov 42

I-169 lines up S-18 near Milne Bay, and sinks it. Always interesting to see a sub versus sub battle. More interesting when you are not on the receiving end.

Enemy patrol boats immediately start sweeping my mines laid at Finschhafen.

I-30 sights DMS Elliot near Horn Island, but doesn't get a shot.

Near Ceylon, a Brit task force of well-equipped KV's gets a good ASW hit on I-165.

Approaching Truk from the southwest, SS Tambor takes a shot at a destroyer and misses. It is part of a large task force inbound to Truk. Largest ships spotted are a CS and a CL, but I'm sure there are bigger.

20 Bettys with Zero escorts bomb my troops on Tagula Island. No damage.

B-26s bomb enemy troops on Rossel Island, doing minor damage.

Allied troops at Milne Bay are the target of many Betty and Nell raids out of Rabaul. 80 bombers attack in total. Damage to the troops is light.

B-26s bomb troops on Horn Island, doing good damage with the clear terrain.

I attack at Rossel Island, trying to eliminate the remnants of II/19th Naval Guard Unit. 98 enemy casualties compared to 13 of mine.

I attack at Tagula Island trying to do the same to the remnants of the 1st Raiding Regiment, and get a 3 to 1, but friendly casualties are twice the enemy's.

I have APDs on fast transport heading to Milne Bay, Tagula, and Rossel with supply.

I see many task forces at Rabaul, including carriers. I now see some type of xAP task force there. I fear a counter-landing at Milne Bay or one of my islands nearby. I need another turn to get all of my carriers to rendezvous at Brisbane, refuel, and rearm. Then I'll be headed back into battle, forcing some supply into my bases, hopefully. The enemy has time to get to me first, though. The heavy bomber attention at Milne Bay could tip off where the enemy will counter.

I land at Horn Island during the night of the next turn.

I sent one squadron of B-26s to bomb Port Moresby's port. There are no fighters there, as the airfield still has high damage, but Buna is loaded with fighters, and could be capping Port Moresby also. I take the chance, hoping to take out the ACM that I know is there. If I can kill it, the minefields there will decay. There's little chance of another ACM sneaking to Port Moresby.

Lexington begins the trip to Pearl Harbor for repairs. My damaged CVEs from the Tabiteuea battle finally make it to Pearl Harbor, and start repairs. It will take just 2 weeks to have them completely repaired.

I just dropped off a bunch of engineer units at Luganville from the West Coast. I will work at getting them into Milne Bay, Deboyne, Tagula, and Rossel Island.

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Post #: 740

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/17/2015 9:12:14 PM

jwolf

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quote:

I fear a counter-landing at Milne Bay or one of my islands nearby.

I suppose the key is whether or not you can successfully capture the base or bases first, especially at Milne Bay. The Japanese defenders are stubbornly not going along with the plan, however. Can you target those bases with an all-out bomber effort to knock out the defenders once and for all?

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Post #: 741

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/17/2015 9:19:15 PM

apbarog

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If the enemy does not reinforce Milne Bay, I think that I can capture it with what I have there now. Supply could be an issue. My previous combat results here were good. I was wearing down the defense. I stopped attacking because my disruption was getting high. I will begin attacking again tomorrow, and can use my B-17s here if necessary.

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Post #: 742

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/18/2015 2:29:54 AM

apbarog

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24 Nov 42

An enemy AMc sneaks down to Ferguson Island and starts sweeping my mines. I don't see the ship during the day.

I invade Horn Island. Landing goes smoothly during the night.

During the day, my troops on Tagula are bombed by Bettys, and this time, by 53 Sallys. Despite the high number of bombers, damage is slight. Then Helens join in, and do minor damage to my troops.

I sent 12 B-26s to Port Moresby, hoping to get the ACM in port. The bombers find 13 Zeros, which must be from Buna, and some bombers are lost. The port is bombed, and the ACM is hit by one bomb and sunk.

14 B-26s bomb enemy troops on Rossel Island.

15 B-25s bomb enemy troops on Tagula Island.

16 Bettys escorted by 40 Zeros attack my shipping at Horn Island. It is interesting that there were 3 directions of approach by the enemy. One was from the base to the northwest of Horn Island, which is a size 1 airfield. Transports and the light cruiser Birmingham are targeted, but all torpedoes miss.

I attack at Rossel Island. Most defenders are eliminated, and the rest are wiped out by attrition. Rossel is clear.

I attack at Tagula and continue to reduce the defenders, despite all of the enemy bombing.

The invasion at Horn Island triggers a shock attack. I didn't land enough troops in one day, so the attack goes at 1 to 1 and reduces the forts to 2. 240 enemy casualties and 142 for me. Things are ok, but I need to land the rest of the troops.

But I can't today.

My opponent made a daring move and sent some type of task force at high speed from Rabaul to Port Moresby. It moved 17 hexes in one day, and went right through Milne Bay. I think that it went through a minefield also. I'm seeing BBs, CAs, and DDs in the task force, but I wonder if battleships could have moved this fast. Regardless, I suspect a strong cruiser and destroyer force.

The obvious move is for the enemy to go to Horn Island and attack my transports. My escorts are weak and didn't expect a surface fight. I decide to stop unloading and move south to my closest port. Friendly CAP will be provided here. I'm guessing that the enemy will run in at night at high speed, and run back to Port Moresby. I'm mining the hex just outside of Port Moresby during the night phase.

I broke out my CVE into a small task force which will run south. A couple of cruisers and some destroyers will move north into the port hex that my transports will mvoe to.

I'll be ok at Horn Island. I just need to land the rest of my troops. I will continue to bomb the enemy troops here. I have moved several squadrons to the north coast, and set them on naval attack, just in case the enemy lingers at Horn Island.

My B-17 force will hit Buna today. Buna is loaded with bombers at the moment. It would be nice to hit them there. Buna has 35 damage. Port Moresby's damage is still in the 80's and isn't being used at the moment.

I moved more recon capability into the Solomons. From now on, Torokino, Buin, and Shortlands will have recon set every turn. I will then pick and choose what and when to hit with my B-24s in the area. Time to start shutting down those airfields while the bulk of the fighters are on New Guinea.

My carriers are now northbound, heading back into the danger area. It will be a few days to arrive though. They have filled out airgroups. Damaged ships are now mostly in ports starting repairs.

It will be very interesting to see what becomes of that task force at Port Moresby. Maybe my opponent thought that I was making an end run to Darwin when I moved southwest of Horn Island. It was a bold move to move to Port Moresby though. Credit to my opponent. He risked that my carriers could have been just to the south.

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Post #: 743

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/18/2015 3:41:34 AM

jwolf

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Your strategy for Horn Island makes sense, making the best of what you have. I like your thinking on the B24 attack to come in the Solomons. Good idea to make him pay for moving air strength to New Guinea. Question about the enemy surface force that just showed up at PM: how do you know it came from Rabaul in one turn? Are you figuring it couldn't have been in the Solomon Sea because if so you would have seen it there? I'm wondering how confident you can be with naval search.

With Rossel in the bag, I hope you get the others soon. Good luck! You two are putting on quite a show for the fans!

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Post #: 744

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/18/2015 3:50:24 AM

apbarog

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I can't be absolutely sure that it started at Rabaul, but I didn't see anything south of Rabaul the turn before, and I did see ships there. During the night phase of the replay, I saw the enemy ships at Milne Bay and Ferguson Island. The Ferguson Island spotting coincided with the local minesweeper report in the combat report. The Milne Bay night sighting had to be the ships passing through to get to Port Moresby.

This part of the game can be the most fun for both sides. Neither side has overwhelming strength, and many battles can go either way. The Japanese is still very strong. There are a lot of troops at Rabaul, and I know that they can be at my invasion points in just a day or two. So nothing is for sure at this point.

I do hope to keep putting pressure at multiple points. Horn Island is the latest. I've been wishing that I had something prepped for Munda, to climb up the Solomon chain a bit further, because now would be a good time for that. But I don't, but I will.

I've been happy just to get my damaged ships to port and get repairs underway.

It's been a fun week of turns. I'm hopeful that we can do a couple more tomorrow.

Thanks for your interest jwolf.

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Post #: 745

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/19/2015 2:39:04 AM

apbarog

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25 Nov 42

At least some of the enemy carriers went to Truk.

During the night, 6 US APDs deliver supply to Milne Bay. Not much, but every little bit helps right now.

The enemy continues to sweep mines at Finschafen and Fergusson Island. The AMc moves in at night and sweeps a few mines, then goes home. Probably to Buna.

During the day, 49 Bettys bomb my troops at Horn Island. With clear terrain, a lot of casualties occur, including destroyed squads, engineers, and guns. I have to get more troops here and take the place as soon as possible.

At Cooktown, the enemy finds CVE Long Island. I had already moved the fighters off of the carrier to help with duties near Horn Island. 12 Bettys escorted by 39 Zeros attack. 10 Kittyhawks fly CAP and are overwhelmed after downing some planes. Long Island takes 2 torpedo hits and automatically disbands into port and into pier repair mode. Damage is 10 SYS and 73 FLOT. The 9 fighters that were on the carrier probably didn't justify risking the ship. Maybe seeing a carrier here changed the enemy's thinking, maybe not.

At Portland Roads, where the Horn Island invasion shipping went, 16 Bettys and 9 Nells find the ships. 5 Martlets and 8 F4F-3s fly CAP, and do a good job. No torpedoes hit.

Then 29 Sallys with 3 Oscars hit my troops at Milne Bay. No damage.

Then 25 Sallys with 8 Oscars arrive. Again, no damage.

At Buna 24 B-17s aim for the airfield. 27 Zeros and 5 Nicks are on CAP. Moderate airfield damage, and some planes on the ground are hit. Followup fragments of this raid hit, adding slightly to the damage. Buna is now 51 airfield damage, with 27F/32B/46. I send more bombers today, but a lot fewer. I need to rest my heavies for a good week or so.

Back at Portland Roads, 12 Bettys with 23 Zeros target shipping. My CAP is tired and does poorly, overwhelmed by the number of Zeros. xAK Manukai takes 2 torpedoes and is sunk. 420 casualties with lots of non-combat, guns, and vehicles lost. I think there was a base force on it.

I attack again at Tagula Island. Attack and defense strengths are dwindling. 9 versus 8 casualties. I have the base here. I'll wait for reinforcements.

With my shipping exposed at Portland Roads, I decide to send them back to Horn Island. I'll LR CAP what I can. I need to land and take the place.

The scary part of today is that the enemy surface group that made the high speed run to Port Moresby yesterday completely disappeared today. It's either close by in bad weather, or it ran back to Rabaul (which doesn't make sense), or it ran the straits at Horn Island and continues west, to Terapo or Darwin. I just don't know.

Allied carriers continue north. I am reloading ships to bring to Milne Bay the rest of the troops that were supposed to land there the first time. More stuff is coming to the islands also.

In the Solomons, I'm bombing Shortlands, aiming for the airfield and the ACM that is in the port.

In Burma, I'm making a maximum air effort at Cox Bazar.

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Post #: 746

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/20/2015 1:37:38 AM

apbarog

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26 Nov 42

Very exciting replay. Then I spent many hours plotting my turn.

At night, submarine Shad fires 4 torpedoes at cruiser Mogami near Darwin. They miss. Mogami and 2 destroyers eliminated my APD that tried to slip past Java a few days ago. There is no doubt that they came to Darwin to start supporting Horn Island.

At Horn Island, my surface group finds I-34 and gets one good ASW hit.

West of Merauke (which is northwest of Horn Island), Grampus fires 4 torpedoes at a destroyer in a huge battleship task force. Hyuga, Ise, Fuso, and Nagato, with 3 cruisers and 7 destroyers are spotted at Merauke during the day. This does not bode well for my nearby Horn Island invaders. I do see other task forces at Merauke, and now see 3 ground units there. There is a squadron of Zeros there also.

Still at night, an evenly matched surface battle takes place:

****************
Night Time Surface Combat, near Horn Island at 91,128, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Aoba, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 3
DD Akatsuki
DD Ayanami
DD Amagiri, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Chicago
CA Pensacola, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
DD O'Bannon
DD Patterson, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Downes
DD Reid

Improved night sighting under 89% moonlight
******************

The fight turned out fairly even. As things are now, I will not lose any ships. The worst damaged ship for me was Pensacola with 25 SYS, 19 FLOT, 13 ENG, 0 FIRE. Patterson's damage was under 20. The key was good visibility and enemy torpedoes missing when the range close to 2000 yards.

The enemy did not interfere with my transports which then started to unload (again).

Then destroyer Wilson found I-158 at Horn Island, and got one good hit and lots of minor ones. I-158 could be in trouble.

Then daylight came.

I sent my Australian based B17s back to Buna. I sink the ACM in port, and do light damage to the airfield.

At Horn Island, 12 B-26s cause over 100 enemy casualties. Clear terrain. Both my opponent and I despise the effectiveness of bombers on ground troops in clear terrain, but we both have to do it at times. The fight at Horn could go either way right now.

I did a maximum air effort targeting Cox Bazar in Burma. It went pretty well. The interesting thing was that for all of my bombing, using all of my mediums and heavies, not a single enemy plane was destroyed or even damaged on the ground. I think that my opponent really likes using ranged CAP. He couldn't be doing LR CAP all this time.

First 25 P40Ks sweep, and have even losses versus 36 Zeros and 10 Oscars.

Then 25 P38s sweep downing a couple of planes. There is heavy rain. That could be interfering. I expected more here.

Then 25 P-39s sweep at low altitude, and trade losses.

Then my bombers start. All in all, they do moderate damage to the airfield. I sent about 100 bombers of all types. Heavy rain didn't help the targeting.

Back at Tagula Island, lots of Bettys and lots of Sallys bomb my troops, but do little damage. Not clear terrain here.

Then comes my big effort in the Solomons at Shortlands. It goes very, very badly. There are just a few planes based here, but lots of planes from Buin and/or Torokino.

Then 3 B-25s and 10 B-26s arrive at Shortlands, without escort. 47 fighters wait, and down a few bombers. Almost no airfield hits.

Then it gets worse. 46 SBDs arrive without escort, against 38 fighters. Half are downed. Almost no damage to the target.

Then 9 B-25s from Rennel Island arrive, and hey, here's my escorts! (29 F4F-4s) Little damage to either side and no damage to the base.

Now 18 more SBDs attack, no escort. Some are damaged, getting 1 port hit.

Then 16 A-24s attack, and most are shot down.

Finally, enemy carriers appear on the east coast of New Guinea, up by Lae but southwest of where our carrier battle occurred. From here, Kates with bombs can hit my ships at Horn Island, and with adequate escort, they do so.

2 xAPs each take one bomb hit.

In the afternoon, the Kates come back. 2 xAPs again take one bomb hit. An xAK takes 3 bombs. The ships did get to unload, but they aren't empty.

I do a shock attack at Horn Island, barely get a 1 to 1 attack, and reduce the forts to 1. 162 casualties for the enemy, 84 for me.

Summary:

Enemy battleships are about to storm into Horn Island. There's no doubt about that. With the clear terrain, that is a big problem. I did just unload a fair number of fresh troops onto Horn Island. My choice is to sit and wait out the upcoming bombardment, or try to take the base now.

I choose to shock attack now and hope that the base falls.

I'm running my transports south at high speed today. No point in staying. My damaged cruiser force is running south at high speed also. I've moved every bomber that I can to my northern bases, including torpedo bombers. I don't have enough fighters there to both CAP my task force and escort my bombers. I choose to CAP my transports.

My carriers are coming, but won't be in range today. They haven't been spotted so far, but probably will be today.

I've lined up my subs in the probable approach to Horn Island for the battleships. I'm sending some B-17s to bomb enemy troops at Horn Island. Both sides will be badly disrupted. I just hope that I can win the day.

I'm holding off attacking at Tagula and Milne Bay. Reinforcements for Tagula are a few days out (and require the carriers to unload safely there), and a huge task force is on the way to Milne Bay, carrying everything that didn't get completely unloaded the first time.

Enemy carriers are a big problem and will prevent these landings, but we may have another carrier battle before that. Like I said, he hasn't seen my carriers yet.

Wild, wild turn. So much to think about.

Those 4 enemy battleships are the same ones that were prowling the Bay of Bengal for so long. There's almost no activity off the coast of Burma anymore. For months, I've been prepping units for a future operation there. I figured that it would be WAY in the future, but now I'm thinking it may be sooner rather than later. It would require carriers, though, and lots of transports.

I want to achieve a certain level of progress in New Guinea before I'm willing to send the carriers elsewhere and rely on land based airpower. We're not there yet.

Another big turn coming tomorrow.

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< Message edited by apbarog -- 10/20/2015 2:40:29 AM >

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Post #: 747

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/20/2015 2:15:57 AM

jwolf

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How much longer until your carriers can add their weight to the battles at Horn Island and/or Milne Bay? Seems like the Japanese have the edge in air/naval strength until your carriers can tip the scales the other way (but I admit I really don't know for sure).

I wonder if the bombing in the Solomon Islands would be better deployed against Milne Bay and/or Tagula, if possible.

BTW any progress on the Idaho fixing some of its damage?

Edit: Horn Island is shaping up kind of like Ontong Java, although with higher stakes and (hopefully!) a better outcome for you. Good luck!

< Message edited by jwolf -- 10/20/2015 3:17:18 AM >

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Post #: 748

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/20/2015 2:21:13 AM

apbarog

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My carriers will not be in position in the next turn, but could be in the turn after that. Of course, if the enemy carriers come south today, we could have a fight.

Japan does have the edge in carrier strength, if all of the big and small ones are together. They didn't quite get all together for the first battle, and I was lucky with that. The battle turned out even or in my advantage, from what I can tell. I have to be careful.

Most of the Solomon Island bombing last turn was with SBDs, and they don't have the range from Guadalcanal or Rennel Island to hit Tagula, Rossel Island, or Milne Bay. Once I get Tagula or Rossel with an operational airfield, though, things will change.

As for Idaho, it is still hiding. It hasn't fixed any damage, but the damage hasn't gotten worse either. All I can do is wait and hope that it isn't found.

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Post #: 749

RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-... - 10/21/2015 3:02:41 AM

apbarog

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27 Nov 42

The night started with damaged xAK Makawao frantically unloading supply over the beach at Horn Island. The troops desperately need whatever can be landed. Nearby, Pickerel fires 4 torpedoes at destroyer Tokitsukaze, but misses. 3 battleships are spotted in this task force. They are near Horn Island and coming fast.

3 of the previously spotted 4 battleships, with 7 destroyers, move to Horn Island and quickly sink xAK Makawao. Then the ships bombard my troops there, and with the clear terrain, its a dreaded nuclear bombardment. Over 500 casualties, with a big chunk of destroyed squads, guns, and vehicles.

My only hope now is that my many bombers can do to the enemy troops what the battleships did to mine.

But it was not to be. When daylight comes, bad weather at Horn Island cancels all air missions targeting it.

The Allies shock attack at Horn Island, but it is suicide. 1 to 99 attack. The enemy also brought in a fragment of the 3rd Raiding Regiment. My troops are decimated. The remaining fragment of the 13th Australian Brigade has 4 healthy squads, and 83 disrupted ones. The 3 support units that landed are all wiped out by attrition.

The fight at Horn Island was actually a very close thing. I may have won if I had been able to continue to land troops on the second day. But I left, and came back on the third day. On the fourth day, the battleships decided the battle.

I've learned some things from this loss, and the previous defeat at Tabiteuea Island. I've played many years as the Japanese, but this is my first game as the Allies in AE. The biggest thing I've learned is that in a contested area, which most are, it is very important to land as much as you can on that first day. This is difficult to do early in the war. Using an AP is much preferred over using an xAP. But there aren't many at this point, and it's a tough call to risk them knowing that they will upgrade to even better APAs in 1943.

So Horn Island was a defeat, but I'm not overly concerned. Horn would have been a nice victory, threatening a quick move toward Darwin, but my priority remains Milne Bay and the islands nearby, and that is still going fine.

Today at Milne Bay, I got a 1 to 1 attack, just missing a 2 to 1, and the enemy took 395 casualties while I took 116. Lots of destroyed enemy squads too. It looks like I'll take the base before my reinforcement convoy arrives.

The enemy battleships are now on the wrong side of New Guinea with my shipping approaching Milne Bay and the islands. KB is returning to Rabaul. If KB comes south, there will be another carrier battle.

I'll also be happy to get my Horn Island transports to safety as they run south. I know that the coast if full of enemy subs, but I have to go that way.

Many troops continue to prepare for phase 2 for the New Guinea/Solomons campaign. That won't kick off until Milne Bay and the islands can provide air support.

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