RE: April 16th, 1943 - First Naval Battle of Colombo

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RE: April 16th, 1943 - First Naval Battle of Colombo - 7/11/2019 2:13:05 AM

ushakov

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^^^
Glad to hear it, godspeed and good luck to you.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Different Dewey.

Oh, the little man on the wedding cake? I think the accent threw me off...

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Post #: 1351

RE: April 16th, 1943 - First Naval Battle of Colombo - 7/11/2019 2:38:14 AM

Bif1961

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Serenity now!!!!!

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Post #: 1352

RE: April 16th, 1943 - First Naval Battle of Colombo - 7/11/2019 3:26:06 AM

Timotheus

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I have to admit, I am selfish.

This is the funnest (... english is hard, OK) AAR I have read lately for any game. I would not like it if it ended.

But really, the Allies get so many toys SOON that losing a carrier or two.. or six... really, it is not much. Drop in the ocean.

edit: This Dewey:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_E._Dewey

I should have went with Wendell Wilkie, would make more sense what with the caricature cigar....

< Message edited by Timotheus -- 7/11/2019 3:30:02 AM >

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Post #: 1353

Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 1:35:43 PM

Anachro

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Situation - April 19th, 1943

John moved further north the turn after I lost a CV, a CVL, and CVL Hermes (lol). He probably expected whatever remained to be heavily damaged and sink or flee to the nearest port as a necessity. Fortunately for me, CVL Melbourne wasn't in mortal danger, so I opted to move her away from my ports and to the northwest. She will continue to Capetown for repair.

Here's how I see the situation now. John has good D/L on Bombay, I have lots of ships there (including a damaged CL and DD). John likes to sink ships...and the sudden DL on a place he hasn't been recon'ing makes me believe he will port strike it, especially since he must know there aren't many fighters there. A lot of these ships are worthless. I actually hope John stays and strikes. I want to use up as much of his ammo/sorties as possible; I want to deplete his KB, cognizant that it must be running lower on fuel due to roving around for a week or more without a tanker in sight and little fuel in the one port he visited, Addu. He will retire soon, but I bet he will take targets of opportunity...like Bombay...along the way.

I didn't say this before. But when John's force ran up, a single AM ran into it (causing me lots of consternation for what that portended). It has minimal surface forces. It has something like 4 CVs and 6 CVLs in the force...it is top-heavy with carriers and little protection otherwise. Opportunities.

< Message edited by Anachro -- 7/11/2019 1:36:46 PM >

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RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 1:42:35 PM

Anachro

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This is all said above with the knowledge of John's path of retreat. His forces seem to be converging once again on Addu...and this has been his staging base in the past. I'm guessing his carriers will head here when they are done in the north, most likely to the west of the Maldives somewhere.

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RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 1:54:28 PM

jwolf

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quote:

I lost a CV, a CVL, and CVL Hermes.

OK, I don't want to minimize your losses ... but that doesn't sound nearly as bad as you let on yesterday. I had imagined a Midway type of disaster and this is very far from that. Keep up the fight!

I haven't read John's AAR, so I don't know what was his strategy on setting up that carrier strike. But here is my speculation. Let's say he's had good recon on South India and Colombo for a while. So he saw all the stuff you had in that area ... but no carriers. Then, the obvious question, where are they? The most likely answer would be to the north, along the Indian coast. Hence, order full speed ahead and charge into battle. In any case, whether by accident or design, he sure made the right move and kudos to him.

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Post #: 1356

RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 1:59:29 PM

Anachro

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You must understand, Jwolf. It was Midway disaster for me! The horror of Sudden Carrier Loss Syndrome is quite great.

But I agree it's not too bad. Like I said, the large majority of Allied carriers are in Australia. If John lingers in the IO, perhaps they'll make an appearance there soon enough. I think it was more the frustration of this being a fluke more than anything else. I'm convinced it was this: John had DL on Cochin where he saw in port and out of it I had a bunch of good transports. So, to get something, he decided to flank speed north and sink those transports. In the process, he got lucky and sank some carriers.

As for the game, I was never in danger of stopping or not posting. I meant more that I'd take yesterday to collect my thoughts and cool down. It's never good to do orders and turns in the heat of the moment when your head is not in the right place. John just sent me a note, VERY PATRONIZING, which means he might have been worried about that. Not sure what people have been posting in his AAR!

< Message edited by Anachro -- 7/11/2019 2:01:55 PM >

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Post #: 1357

RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 2:50:09 PM

paullus99

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Sorry, but John is an ass....

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RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 2:54:48 PM

Canoerebel

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When John dons his "gay AE apparel," he sometimes can be an in-game ass with his boasting and taunting. But that's just his game persona and only covers part of his gaming personality. He's also fun and exuberant and experienced and altogether a blast to play. Once he sheds his "gay AE apparel" and assumes normal life, he's a great guy. I think he's exuberant in life too, but he's generous and welcoming and warm.

Sometimes we get crossways with folks in the Forum (I am chief among sinners in that regard). But I think 99.5% of the people here are fine men who would do anything for anybody else. There is 0.5% trolls, but the rest of us are good men.

< Message edited by Canoerebel -- 7/11/2019 2:56:01 PM >

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Post #: 1359

RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 3:05:46 PM

BBfanboy

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Shhhhh Dan! Alfred will go after you for spreading misinformation!

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Post #: 1360

RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 3:08:24 PM

Anachro

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Haha, I think I worded it wrong. The email he sent wasn't that bad actually, pretty nice - it was his way of trying to get me back into the game if my spirits were flagging. John is a great guy and I think CR it spot on in his analysis. He is very boisterous, it is his personality. He wears his heart of his sleeve and I love it. The game is the game; don't ever take it personally. Here is email #1:

quote:

OK. Ok. You got a smack on the last turn. That can mentally hurt and I have been there. Try playing the Japanese in 1944 and 1945! That is pain. Dan will tell you.

I�ve tried so many times to catch you exposed and finally got succeeded. Now buck up camper, shake off the dust and get ready for more, heavy duty action!

See? Not that bad. Don't take my words too seriously!

He also sent me an additional email which confirmed my above supposition on why his carriers moved north. Lucky for him, I sent my carriers west from Goa planning to go around and see if I could hit anything exposed near Addu. I had even thought about moving them on a northwestern direction at first to avoid the move that John did.

quote:

I did an update that I plan to finish today. Some commentary but not much so far.

We're you sending those carriers off map? Crazy to run into them with few aircraft out there. I expected to fly strikes against shipping along the coast!

< Message edited by Anachro -- 7/11/2019 3:10:12 PM >

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Post #: 1361

RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 3:16:59 PM

Anachro

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Now, what am I planning for the IO? Someone please tell me!

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RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 3:26:39 PM

BBfanboy

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As John mentioned, those British carriers did not carry a lot of planes so all you lost was your mobile harassment capability.
The plan should remain
- hunker down at Colombo and Trivandrum under heavy air cover
- rearm your BBs when you can safely do so and bring them back to Trivandrum to threaten a move on his bases or amphibs if he withdraws too much of his fleet.
- with a lot of his fleet pinned here, probe elsewhere for opportunities.

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RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 3:50:15 PM

HansBolter

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How many American CVs do you have?

Why are they sitting in Oz?

Why aren't they headed to the IO to cut off his retreat and catch him with no fuel or sorties left?

I'd be stationing them midway between Diego and Cocos waiting for him to make a run across what he will expect to be open waters back to his supply sources in the DEI.

That is the time and place to pounce if you are game enough to risk an encounter outside of LBA cover.

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Hans

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RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 4:08:38 PM

Anachro

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Hannibal ad portas. Carpe diem! Aut, carpe noctem! Victrix causa deis placuit, sed victa Catoni.

And other such phrases...

< Message edited by Anachro -- 7/11/2019 4:36:55 PM >

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RE: Situation - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 5:17:23 PM

Lovejoy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Anachro

It has minimal surface forces. It has something like 4 CVs and 6 CVLs in the force...it is top-heavy with carriers and little protection otherwise. Opportunities.

This. It looks like he's depending on his air groups to keep SAGs away. If you can slip a few in with his carriers, you might just put the fox in the henhouse.

Aside from that, CAP Traps: maybe he'll impale his air groups on your fighters

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Post #: 1366

Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 8:44:51 PM

Anachro

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Day - April 19th, 1943

John doesn't strike Bombay. He moves down and decoy ships I sent to Goa take a strike, but I also placed around 30 P38's there that manage to get into the bombers a little bit. John loses ~20 of his carrier planes.

Unfortunately, I send a strike against John's ships south of Ceylon, but the full escort package (~60 A/C) doesn't go with the dive bombers, they get eaten up and the few that do break through hit nothing. Most importantly, I am sending fast transports of supplies from Trivandrum to Colombo, which is fully repaired and almost to level 2 forts. This will improve as time goes by. There is 1200 AV at Colombo. Total losses for the day are ~60 allied and ~40 Japanese planes. John loses a bunch of Liz's to flak in an ineffectual night strike on Madras.

< Message edited by Anachro -- 7/11/2019 8:45:20 PM >

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Post #: 1367

RE: Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 8:57:32 PM

Anachro

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What does Colombo fully repaired mean? I can finally re-arm large ships there. I send two slow BBs from Trivandrum and they are back in fighting condition.

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RE: Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/11/2019 9:13:14 PM

Canoerebel

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Okay, then you're throwing down the gauntlet, which I endorse 100%! Make John come and dig you out. If you have strong ground, air and naval forces at Colombo, he's got to make a tough call: attack a hard target or try to withdraw valuable assets from right under the enemy's nose? I'm guessing he'll blink eventually and try for an emergency evacuation. So even while you gear up for the expected fight that will take place short-term, give some thought to how you'd like to deal with a withdrawal scenario (or, for that matter, an all-out-Japanese attack scenario).

It's fun following along.

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RE: Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 12:17:16 AM

HansBolter

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Was my idea so unworthy as to warrant no comment?

If he stays and fights here, he could be very vulnerable to you sneaking up behind him with the American CVs.

I realize this means an all out confrontation, rather than hitting him where he isn't.

I also have no idea what your plans are elsewhere.

Just a thought on a way to take advantage of a potentially weakened force.

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RE: Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 12:29:08 AM

Timotheus

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Yay, it's back. Seriously, this is a highlight of my day (well, one of).

The only reason why I went to read John's AAR was because I was curious about the extent of the "disaster" (furious air quotation, hands going up and down vigoroously).

Once I saw the extent of losses, I laughed.

Unfortunately, since I peeked at John's AAR I cannot give you any of my game-"wisdom" (errr, furious air quotes here also, ahem).

John has been so far aggressive and he lives to raid, attack, pillage, and hear the lamentation of (pixelated) women.

That's what makes this a great game.

I can say this, without any opsec breach.

The funniest thing is that when reading this AAR, the CIC is scoring brilliant victory one after another, his complicated, obtuse plans always come to fruition, and the game is one long series of triumphs achieved by, lets face it, a genius level player.

Imagine my shock (just imagine!!!) when I peeked at John's AAR and.... I saw the same thing!
John is scoring brilliant victories, one after another, his complicated, obtuse plans always come to fruition, and the game is one long series of triumphs achieved by, lets face it, a genius level player.

Makes one think about historical books and narratives by generals from previous wars..... say, german generals who were always oh-so-brilliant, massacring those pesky soviets with one hand tied behind their back, easily, and would have won the war except for that pesky, mad austrian house-painter who spoiled everything.......
Actually, ANY war memoir and historical book.... makes one think....

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RE: Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 12:48:30 AM

Canoerebel

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That's pretty much universal when both players are keeping an AAR.

The Allied players must be aggressive and has to punish the enemy in big quantities of land and casualties. Losses on a minor scale are to be expected as part of the risk of advancing. The Japanese player is on the defensive and has to sting and bite, so that small victories mean everything even while "losing the war." So both sides can see the same clashes, advances and withdrawals as furthering their ends. And there's always the aspect of "Baghdad Bob" presentations of information in the most positive manner possible.

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April 20th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 1:08:35 AM

Anachro

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@Hans Sorry for not commenting. I have certainly thought about bringing my carriers over. No doubt, if they were near at hand I would not be afraid of a direct confrontation at all. However, I think it would take too long for them to get there. They have already been traveling to Australia for awhile from Pearl by way of Tahiti to remain unseen. I still think about it. However, I think they could be needed to secure my other invasion targets. We must remember that the main KB is probably somewhere near Saipan. I still am thinking about sending them...

Regarding Timotheus, I agree that that's a function of our narrow viewpoints. I post a lot more often than John does. I don't think I've failed to note where John gets a successful raid in. That's all he does...all he does.

April 20th, 1943

This is a very fun turn and, despite my coming off worse in the VP calculations, I am very happy with the attritional results. John sends the surface forces covering his CVE's south of Ceylon to attempt a nuclear bombardment of Colombo. In doing so, they run into my BB force backed by BB Ramilles and BB Arizona, as well as a smattering of other riffraff meant to soak up ammo. In the ensuin clashes, John sinks the Arizona, but I sink one of his pocket battleships. I'll take it. More importantly, I succeed in soaking up a lot of ammo and the bombardment is less than nuclear: a lot of planes damaged but not as many destroy - and the airfield is still in service. John also loses more Liz heavy bombers to flak in night attacks on Madras.

And again - BB Ramilles is hardly damaged and thanks to the Colombo port - HAS FULL AMMO.

Meanwhile, John moves north again back to Bombay and it makes me happy. He is killing some shipping, yes. More importantly, he is wasting fuel and sorties and allowing me to attrition down his planes somewhat. Here's the action around there for the day. This seems a bit reckless by him; his force is far north, using ammo wantonly, fuel, with little surface support...possibilities.

In other news, I'm happy to note that CVL Melbourne will make it to Cape Town for repairs.

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RE: April 20th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 1:19:08 AM

Anachro

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I will make no claims to no bias. In a way, being biased about the events is one way to keep morale strong.

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RE: April 20th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 1:38:02 AM

Timotheus

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"This seems a bit reckless by him; his force is far north, using ammo wantonly, fuel"

This is about John.

Par for the course.

I am OK with "patriotic" AAR's, heck, it feels like a real memoir of a commander in chief Allied Forces Pacific (or a staffer)... except it is done in real time.
Interesting alternate timeline. Having played Allies in beginning of war, it does feel like a series of punches to the gut, one after another.

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RE: Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 6:12:39 AM

BBfanboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

That's pretty much universal when both players are keeping an AAR.

The Allied players must be aggressive and has to punish the enemy in big quantities of land and casualties. Losses on a minor scale are to be expected as part of the risk of advancing. The Japanese player is on the defensive and has to sting and bite, so that small victories mean everything even while "losing the war." So both sides can see the same clashes, advances and withdrawals as furthering their ends. And there's always the aspect of "Baghdad Bob" presentations of information in the most positive manner possible.

The mention of Baghdad Bob made me wonder if anyone hired him to do stand-up comedy after he left Saddam's employ ...

About the SC actions, your worst losses might have been the 3 KVs which, in my game, have crews with good experience and are doing well at ASW.
Oh well, you can't keep all the good ones and just offer up the stinkers ...

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RE: Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 11:46:18 AM

Anachro

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Today, we send more waves of xAKs out to "harass" John's KB and hopefully even get into a surface action. This serves three purposes: 1) to deplete more sorties and torpedoes; 2) to burn endurance of John's KB task force; and 3) to hopefully deplete surface ammo of any escorts he might have. Once a TF reaches 0 endurance, it moves 1 hex/day. I don't think we get there, but these things add up. Most important is lowering ammo.

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RE: Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 1:37:51 PM

jwolf

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Anachro, I see your point about endurance although that sounds like an expensive way to try that. BBfanboy's note about the KVs is worth considering. I have seen in at least one AAR (can't remember which or who) the Japanese player consciously targeted ASW ships in surface actions in a "remove the defender" sort of chess strategy that opened up targets for the Jap subs.

Do you have additional assets coming into this theater? I am assuming supply and fuel won't be a problem, but I sure hope you don't run out of ships!

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Post #: 1378

RE: Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 2:08:55 PM

Anachro

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Next day. Ramilles goes down to superior Japanese torpedoes...Japanese carriers seem to be moving back to Addu. John wastes more ammo on xAKs - Kates are no longer dropping torpedoes. Bad day, but Colombo will soon be reinforced by 4 battleships, cruisers, destroyers in the near-term. Interesting times ahead!

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Post #: 1379

RE: Day - April 19th, 1943 - 7/12/2019 2:09:53 PM

Anachro

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Force Black...rested and waiting.

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: April 16th, 1943 - First Naval Battle of Colombo