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RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffins (A) BTS

 
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RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/25/2020 3:51:30 PM   
aaffins

 

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From: Richmond, VA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: ChuckBerger

Lex's damage is amazingly low for 4 torps, and reported heavy damage!



Just realized I had Lexington and Saratoga backwards. Lex is the cripple and Saratoga was still capable of conducting operations.

Thank you both for weighing in.

(in reply to ChuckBerger)
Post #: 31
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/26/2020 12:30:58 AM   
aaffins

 

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2/27/42 -
We had the same idea about a surface engagement it appears, unfortunately he had bigger guns: BBs Yamashiro and Fuso. We lose the BC Renown and DD Jervis. We do take a couple DDs with us as a consolation prize.

Further south a couple of CLs take out a cargo convoy heading to Darwin off Derby.

No morning attacks but he scrapes this force together in the afternoon:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Exmouth at 44,125

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 76 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 32 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23
B5N2 Kate x 29
D3A1 Val x 22

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 5
Sea Hurricane Ib x 7
F4F-3A Wildcat x 2
F4F-3 Wildcat x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 7 destroyed, 1 damaged
D3A1 Val: 7 destroyed, 4 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar II: 1 destroyed
Sea Hurricane Ib: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis
CV Saratoga, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
CA Astoria

Despite just the one hit Saratoga is now at 68 FLT damage and can't conduct air ops.

Range was 7 hexes so our planes didn't fly.

He also grabbed Cocos I. while this was going on and dropped the 8th Inf Div at PM.

2/28/42 -
He seems to be sending a lot of surface ships to try to finish us off. Two CLs and three DDs sink a couple of Dutch DDs that were lagging behind because they were low on gas.

DD Stribling sinks a pair of TBs

He's only able to get 16 strike planes together for today's raid, hopefully this will be it:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Exmouth at 45,128

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 31 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
B5N2 Kate x 7
D3A1 Val x 9

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 2
Sea Hurricane Ib x 3
F4F-3A Wildcat x 2
F4F-3 Wildcat x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar II: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Queen Elizabeth
CV Indomitable
CL Glasgow

Our Albacores and a few SBDs fly a counter, but with no escort don't do anything except get shot down.

Map below, the CAs were going for another surface intercept hoping his escorts were depleted after those BBs clashed with Renown yesterday.








Attachment (1)

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 32
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/26/2020 12:52:23 AM   
aaffins

 

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3/1/42 -
We get some better air search in place, enemy SCTFs all over the place, but no flights from the CVs. Map below.

Enterprise makes port at Exmouth. We'll hide out for a day or two. 2 CAs and a CL link up with Lex to bulk up her escort.

Two Brit DDs get taken out by BBs Mutsu and Tosa. Guess it's good our CAs didn't hit home yesterday.

Two CLs and their DDs take out some small freighters further south off Carnarvon

Moving a bunch of air power to Perth. Also sending the CLVs west, they were at Sydney. My big concern is that he has a pretty darn good idea of where I'm going. He can bring his other two big CV groups around and wax this entire area. That's the big concern right now. Lex and Sara can probably make it to Perth given enough time, but I think have too much damage to risk a run to Capetown.

He attacks at PM and it goes surprisingly poorly, 1:2 with no fort reduction.




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(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 33
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/26/2020 5:28:00 AM   
ChuckBerger

 

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The tension! Good luck. His air groups appear to have been eviscerated. No doubt the charge of the Renown will go down in the annals of British military tradition as one of the great sacrifices...

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 34
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/27/2020 12:02:39 AM   
aaffins

 

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From: Richmond, VA
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3/2/42 -
Saratoga gets sunk by a damn sub. All the dodging of planes and surface ships and it's a stupid sub that does us in. Several surface combat clashes, mostly between the RN CA Exeter and friends and the BC Chichibu & Co. We lose a DD but sink two of theirs. No real damage to Exeter, but out of ammo.

Perhaps more concerning is that Lex had 4 of those 'difficulty controlling flooding' messages and her FLT is now at 68 so very much in the danger zone.

E still in port for one more day. I think he's running out of ships with ammo. We probably need to roll after that, IJN CVs moving up the NG coast and will round Sorong tonight, so they'll be here in ~3 days.

If worst comes to worst E has a pretty good chance of making it to Capetown with 47 FLT. Could also try to hide in a small port on the Aussie coast. Or under a CAP umbrella at Perth. I could probably get up to 125 fighters or so. Maybe more. Any opinions?

< Message edited by aaffins -- 3/27/2020 9:11:27 PM >

(in reply to ChuckBerger)
Post #: 35
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/27/2020 2:39:00 AM   
BBfanboy


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quote:

ORIGINAL: aaffins

3/2/42 -
Saratoga gets sunk a damn sub. All the dodging of planes and surface ships and it's a stupid sub that does us in. Several surface combat clashes, mostly between RN CA Exeter and friends and the BC Chichibu & Co. We lose a DD but sink two of theirs. No real damage to Exeter, but out of ammo.

Perhaps more concerning is that Lex had 4 of those 'difficulty controlling flooding' messages and her FLT is not at 68 so very much in the danger zone.

E still in port for one more day. I think he's running out of ships with ammo. We probably need to roll after that, IJN CVs moving up the NG coast and will round Sorong tonight, so they'll be here in ~3 days.

If worst comes to worst E has a pretty good chance of making it to Capetown with 47 FLT. Could also try to hide in a small port on the Aussie coast. Or under a CAP umbrella at Perth. I could probably get up to 125 fighters or so. Maybe more. Any opinions?

Definitely go to Capetown. Even with Lex if it can get west before those IJN ships and subs close on her. His subs will be looking for Lex to head for nearest port.

_____________________________

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(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 36
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/27/2020 4:32:35 PM   
Bif1961


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The early war American damage control is not what it is later in the war and have lost a medium damaged carrier going slowly to port a day out when it seemed not to be in danger. I don't know if it can stand a long trip and risk a sudden damage control failure.

(in reply to BBfanboy)
Post #: 37
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/27/2020 5:41:17 PM   
BBfanboy


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

The early war American damage control is not what it is later in the war and have lost a medium damaged carrier going slowly to port a day out when it seemed not to be in danger. I don't know if it can stand a long trip and risk a sudden damage control failure.

That is an unknown, but you know he is hunting your survivors and will check the ports. Don't count on the Japanese being out of ammo - they carry more than Allied ships (one of the benefits of exceeding treaty limitations by 15-30%.

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No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

(in reply to Bif1961)
Post #: 38
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/27/2020 9:50:04 PM   
John 3rd


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BB Fanboy has THAT right!

How did you get caught in this? Did air search fail?


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(in reply to BBfanboy)
Post #: 39
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/28/2020 12:03:38 AM   
aaffins

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

BB Fanboy has THAT right!

How did you get caught in this? Did air search fail?



Not really, it basically happened in open ocean and he came an unanticipated direction. Even so, it was the Hiryu/Soryu and 4 CVLs vs. our 4 big CVs and the Indomitable, so it wasn't exactly a mismatch. My point of view is that I didn't get much luck. But I also may be telling myself that for my sanity right now...

(in reply to John 3rd)
Post #: 40
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/28/2020 1:25:11 AM   
BBfanboy


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quote:

ORIGINAL: aaffins


quote:

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

BB Fanboy has THAT right!

How did you get caught in this? Did air search fail?



Not really, it basically happened in open ocean and he came an unanticipated direction. Even so, it was the Hiryu/Soryu and 4 CVLs vs. our 4 big CVs and the Indomitable, so it wasn't exactly a mismatch. My point of view is that I didn't get much luck. But I also may be telling myself that for my sanity right now...

Don't beat yourself up. At this stage of the war the Allied aircrew just do not have the experience that KB pilots do, and their aircraft are not superior yet. That means the KB can get more hits than you can. Most carrier battles I have seen at this stage of the war are only won by the Allies if the KB has rotten weather or is distracted by other targets like transports and splits its strikes.

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 41
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/28/2020 1:39:09 AM   
aaffins

 

Posts: 254
Joined: 3/7/2010
From: Richmond, VA
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3/3/42 -
Sara's former escorts clash with two BBs:
Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 1
BB Tosa, Shell hits 2
CL Suzuya
CL Kumano, Shell hits 1
DD Oyashio
DD Hatsukaze
DD Natsushio
DD Nowaki

Allied Ships
CA Pensacola, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 4, on fire
CL Sumatra, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Preston, Shell hits 1
DD Lamson, Shell hits 1
DD Shaw
DD Stribling, Shell hits 2, on fire

It seems my supposition that he was running out of ships with ammo was inaccurate.

Lexington gets her FLT down to 67 but still can only make 5 knots and is 4 hexes from Exmouth.

In light of the amount of enemy surface combatants, E waits one more turn in "port" at Exmouth.

He lands at Diamond Harbour with the 11th Inf Regt. As we've previously discussed in this thread the CD guns are largely useless despite him using only 4 CLs as cover.

3/4/42 -
We send the CL Colombo and DD Isis downriver from Calcutta, hopeful of catching the landing force. Doesn't work, his 4 CLs intercept and Colombo is sunk with Isis damaged. At least the CD guns get some hits in on his transports.

The Lex TF runs into two CLs off Exmouth but escapes. E and friends move from Exmouth to Carnarvon and actually make it far enough to disband in the small port there. Lex is down to 66 FLT and E 46. I think at this point I have to basically write off Lex, "dock" her at Exmouth and cross my fingers he doesn't catch on. Things are looking ok for E though, I send her due West out to sea.

What we're presuming is the KB is 2 hexes NE of Lautem.

He tries an attack at Diamond Harbor but goes 1:2 with no fort reduction. An Indian Div and Brig are marching down from Calcutta.

3/5/42 -
I hope this turn is the nadir of the game, but if it isn't we're going to truly plumb the depths of Allied incompetence. Also, as a mature adult, I've chosen to deal with this setback by drinking heavily so I apologize for (more) misspellings (than normal) and poor sentence structure.

He got some other carriers back into the battle zone off NW Aus, not exactly sure how. I guess it's been long enough he could have gotten back to Tjilatjap (with an AKE) and possibly rearmed the Hiryu and the 2 CVLs we didn't really damage. The found the E trying to head out to sea and sank her as well as CA New Orleans. San Francisco has heavy damage and will try for Perth.

Lexington actually didn't get hit despite a raid by a Kate squadron, but I think it's pretty obvious she disappeared into Exmouth "harbor".

Meanwhile he shock attacked at Diamond Harbour and got a 6:1 to take the base. I elect not to send ~400 Indian AV across the river in a counterattack. Might have been able to dislodge a tired IJA regiment, but also might have gotten half my Calcutta defenses shredded. Time will tell. Apparently there IS a river crossing between Diamond Harbour and Calcutta so losing it may not be as critical as I thought.

As if that's not enough, a damn Mavis bombed a transport near Norfolk I. carrying an incredibly valuable USAAF recon unit and a CVE/CLV attacked a convoy carrying the US 27th Ind Div in the same area. We have the USN CVEs Langley and Ely nearby...so we may get another a mini carrier battle. A terrifying prospect considering my treacherous position, but at least we can set our squadrons appropriately this time. We also have two USN BBs in the area that will move in and attempt to distract from the valuable transports. He only had Vals in the strike so I'm thinking (probably vain hope) that he may have CVE with only DBs onboard.

AV is now a very real possibility. He still has many more easy VPs to get by mopping up a pocket of 2 divisions that I have unsupplied at Temuloh in Malaya, and Clark Field/Bataan in the PI. Not to mention the dumpster fire going on in China.





< Message edited by aaffins -- 3/28/2020 2:05:42 AM >

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 42
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/28/2020 1:55:02 AM   
BBfanboy


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Due east from Exmouth means digging the world's longest trench and filling it with water. I suggest going west instead.

As for the CD unit at Diamond Harbour, check the unit experience (likely very low) and the leader's Land and Aggression stats. I expect they both stink. If there are other bases with CD units that you expect to be invaded, you should consider investing in a good leader.

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 43
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/28/2020 2:04:51 AM   
aaffins

 

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Haha, thank you. As previously mentioned we're self medicating this disaster with liquor.

< Message edited by aaffins -- 3/28/2020 2:06:34 AM >

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 44
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 3/28/2020 10:08:55 PM   
ChuckBerger

 

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If it's any consolation, many of us are similarly self-medicating, even without having suffered a reverse Midway...

Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 45
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/12/2020 2:57:09 PM   
aaffins

 

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From: Richmond, VA
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Well that was unfortunate foreshadowing...

3/6/42 -
For some reason I don't have the CR of this turn, so doing this from memory and ships sunk report.
The CV battle north of NZ isn't much of a battle, the small raid yesterday was misleading, he has the CV Junyo as well as the Nisshin and Hosho. They make short work of our little CVEs, both of which are sinking condition and we don't even get a raid off. Worse, a large TF carrying the 27th Infantry Div. is now squarely in his crosshairs. He sinks the AP Santa Elena and has detected the fleeing other ships. A tanker TF is also caught up in this. At least the air transport TF got away towards Sydney.

3/7/42 -
We try to counter with a Vindicator squadron from Auckland but don't penetrate the enemy CAP. The meager CAP we can put up over Auckland does little to stop him and he sinks 4 loaded freighters, an xAP, an AKE and a big tanker. Both CVEs also go down.

Port Moresby falls to the IJA 8th Div. reinforced by two brigades.

Fun turn.

3/8/42 -
We have a small success over Rajshashi, which is the extent of his advance in India so far. It's small airstrip 5 hexes NE of Calcutta for those without a map handy. A squadron of our Hurricanes sweeps a group of Oscars, inflicting solid 3 to 1 losses.

Bad weather (I think, it's been a couple weeks) puts a pause on things around NZ. A badly damaged DD carrying about 70 squads is able to dump them at Waipapkauri (northern tip of North I.). Remnants of TF are trying for Auckland.

3/9/42 -
He has a first go at clearing the skies over Calcutta with three fighter groups (~120 total planes), two Zero and one Oscar. We have 4 Hurricane squadrons up and they do pretty well against the first couple waves, around 2:1 but by the third wave we're down to just a few Hurris and they take some losses. Come out about even overall, slightly ahead of him. I don't think I can get in to a straight attrition battle at this point in the war with him, but the larger pools in BTS and Allied a/c purchase system give me a bit more latitude than stock to contest this. Right now my Hurricane pools are basically untouched so going to continue to play cat and mouse. We've also built the adjacent base at Howrah and are working to the one slightly north at Jamshedpur, so we won't be dependent just on Calcutta's airfield.

Near NZ it's a mixed bag, as we do get a lot of the 27th Div ashore but lose an AE, AP and xAPs at Auckland...fancy ones too, comes out to 76 VP plus whatever he'll score for the heavy equipment we couldn't unload. We try throwing a bunch of B-17s, Hudsons and Vindicators at him, but can't get through the CAP and he's too far away for our F4s to escort.

3/10/42 -
He's been trying to figure out where the heck Lexington went in NW Oz. He finally figures it out when a CL bombards Exmouth. With Sys and Flt damage both around 80 I don't think there's any real chance of escape, so scuttle the ship to save VPs (he still hasn't realized this is what I did and may suspect she got away based on some recent conversations, so I guess good decision).

At Calcutta he comes again with ~50 Zeroes and 65 Oscars, so I guess same crew as yesterday with a new Oscar group? We have moved in an AVG squadron. I accidentally put the Blenheim IF squadron on CAP, which goes predictably poorly but other than that we do quite well, downing many zeroes.
On the ground his leading tank units captures the dot base at Tezpur which cuts the rail line back into India. This is not unanticipated but means the Burmese army will have to fight its way out. We'll see how that goes.

In China some good and bad: Chihkiang is on the brink and will probably fall next turn. I had reinforcements coming but they won't make it. However at the key base of Ankang his attack goes poorly despite have a full division reinforced with an armored regiment and two infantry regiments. I'm trying to maintain a perimeter around Chungking using the rough terrain and Ankang is a key cog in that. Moving in additional units but the difficult terrain makes any reinforcement a lengthy process.

In NZ our last transport is sunk. We lost most of the ships, but the 27th Division is intact overall. About 80% of the infantry survived. The heavy equipment and support is of course mostly lost, but that's easier to replace, we begin the process at Auckland, which is flush with supply.

3/11/42
Pretty quiet turn, Chihkiang somehow holds out another turn.

He tries a first attack at Clark Field and gets 1:1 odds with heavy losses.

Cebu and Oroquieta fall.

I've been bombing Diamond Harbor since he neglected to land av support initially, but a couple transports snuck in a unit so the party is over, I pay a toll of half a dozen Blenheims to find this out.

3/12/42
Flying Oscars one hex away from a major airfield is kind of asking for it...a sweep by a Hurricane squadron takes down quite a few of them.

He unwisely tries for a second day in a row at Clark and only gets 1:6 odds with heavy losses again.

He also has the first go in a while at our mountain bastion at Bandoeng, but gets 1:11 odds albeit with not terribly heavy casualties for the effort.

3/13-17/42
Pretty quiet turns here. I was basically licking my wounds. He was rearming, I suspect, and (as I know now) loading up his next big invasion. I really though Ceylon or perhaps an end around on Calcutta on the Indian coast (Viz) was the next move. Nope.

On the 16th he tried a couple really ill-advised attacks at Kungchang and Changsha. All told he took nearly 12,000 casualties and something like 1,100 squads disabled or destroyed. Not crippling but he's going to need to time for all those disableds to recover.

On the 17th Chihkiang finally fell. Held on a few days longer than I expected, but not long enough for me to reinforce. He also grabbed the dot base at Rangpur with an armored unit.

3/18/42
Things start to pick back up again...a trio of CAs visit Auckland, sinking my harbor patrol and destroying a few a/c on the field.

I had been sweeping Diamond Harbor, he brings in a Zero group to try to stop it but they take heavy losses at the hands of the AVG and a Buffalo (!?) squadron.
I don't fly CAP over Calcutta and he gets a free run with the bombers...and discovers the absurd amount of AAA I have in the hex. Lost nearly 20 planes and did minimal damage.

The KB returns to NW Oz, sinking a couple DDs that were trying to make a run back to Perth from the Darwin area.

Denpasar falls.

The BC Constellation, which was transiting from Cape Town to Eastern USA off map, sinks at sea. Bit frustrated by this, she made Cape Town with 47 FLT and minimal SYS with no warnings about sinking (she was damaged in the battle off Northern OZ back in January), but suddenly went to 87 FLT damage partway across the Atlantic. I guess we chalk that one up to U-boats.

3/19-20/42
He's back in Western Oz in a big way. BB Fuso and friends hammer the Perth airfield, shutting us down before we even get a plane in the air. KB providing cover of course and an afternoon followup raid to ensure the airfield is out of action. Invasion TF lands at Geraldton. With the Perth airfield out of action and the KB in a covering position SW of Geraldton there's not a lot of resistance options for me.

He also has some surface ships approaching Auckland, turns out to be the BC Kongo and CB Fuji. I thought it was a trap so I only had the B-17s and Vildebeests with a short range on Nav Attack and we go 0 for. Not sure why he ended up 3 hexes off Auckland.


(in reply to ChuckBerger)
Post #: 46
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/12/2020 7:13:26 PM   
aaffins

 

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From: Richmond, VA
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3/21/42 -
Lots of IJN activity on all fronts...in India the CA Takao and a couple DDs come up river, and sink the 3 AMc's we had on harbor patrol. The ensuing bombardment is relatively ineffective.

Perth gets hit by a CB and a CA, but the coastal defenses do land a few hits on the CB and we get an 'on fire' message so that might be some light sys damage.

At Auckland the TF we sighted last turn closes and bombards, knocking out a ton of guns for some reason, but the Kongo and one of the DDs hit mines. They don't make it far after daybreak and get peppered by two squadrons of USMC Vindicators. Kiwi Vildebeests put a fish into the Kongo as well. VAC says he left them on Remain on Station. I offered a redo but he passed. I'll take it, think both went down. First capital ships of the war we've bagged.

In India (Bangladesh?) his leading elements reach Dimapur. The 1st Burma Div is a couple days out, moving through the jungle from the South. We position a Ghurka Bn. to try to hold until they arrive. First attack goes 1:1 and we can't damage the tanks, so that's not ideal.

He gets another 1:2 at Clark Field with 100+ squads disabled.

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 47
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/14/2020 5:47:02 PM   
aaffins

 

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3/22/42 -
Wow he's coming for Perth in a big way, major landing. I'm a bit surprised but not totally unprepared for this - I have a couple of pretty strong units dug in at Perth, most notably one of the Aussie Brigades from Africa and a US Army motorized inf regiment. The 'garrison' brigade at Perth also has AIF44 squads for some reason, presumably that's a BTS bug. AV is slightly over 500, so I think he'll probably need at least two divisions, although that balance might be swung by air and naval support.

To the turn itself...he's got BB Mutsu in the invasion force, it hits a mine as does one of transports. The CD guns really work over the transports, damaging 4-5 heavily as well as a covering CL. He lands two full divisions, plus one independent regiment, but his AV is only 911 so they don't seem quite full strength. That may just be attrition from the messy landing. The airfield is completely shut down and the KB remains on station just offshore so we don't have many good interdiction options that I'm seeing.

Elsewhere BC Kongo is officially sunk under a hail of USMC bombs. No sign of the CB, so guessing it was really gone last turn.

He tries a river crossing shock attack at Tuyun in China and gets 200 squads disabled for his efforts.

Our Ghurka Bn. holds on at Dimapur, keeping the road open for the Burmese.




(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 48
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/14/2020 6:42:11 PM   
BBfanboy


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I hope you garrisoned Cundredin and the base further east against para-drops.
Perth could be your Stalingrad stand if you can keep supply coming to it and feed in reinforcements. At some point the growing Allied strength and long IJ LOC will force them to retreat or die in place.

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(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 49
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/14/2020 9:42:53 PM   
aaffins

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

I hope you garrisoned Cundredin and the base further east against para-drops.
Perth could be your Stalingrad stand if you can keep supply coming to it and feed in reinforcements. At some point the growing Allied strength and long IJ LOC will force them to retreat or die in place.


Unfortunately I didn't, I know better because I've planned operations around Kalgoorlie (the rail hub) before. Fortunately for me it does have a garrison battalion in BTS (I think in stock it's empty); biggest issue is that I was not building forts, so that's underway.

In terms of larger scale response I do have two US Army regiments from the Americal Div in SE Oz as well as a tank battalion. The TOE of the Australian Army also seems a little tougher in BTS; I haven't done a side by side comparison but it seems like I have a few more CMF brigades and quite a few more 'LH Motor' units which I guess is about equivalent to a cavalry battalion (non-mechanized).
I have about 150 USAAF fighters, a group of A-24s and a few squadrons of RAAF torpedo planes. The main issue is that Perth is the only AF larger that size 1 in SW Oz, and it's currently very closed, so I have no real ability to use airpower.

I have a couple SCTFs each built around a pair of CAs that are lurking to the South, about 20 hexes out, so if the KB moves we could take a run at him. I also have the Indomitable and the CLVs Wellington and Melbourne, but it would really have to be a golden opportunity to deploy them considering how bad my CV situation is after the NW Aus disaster.

(in reply to BBfanboy)
Post #: 50
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/14/2020 10:05:24 PM   
aaffins

 

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3/23/42

Perth: CD guns continue to put a hurting on the 'phibs, at least 5 in sinking condition by my count with a CL and DD 'on fire' with lots more transports damaged, but he is landing a third division, the 56th. KB flies a strike against my ground units. AV is now up to 1,300; his first attack gets 1:1 odds and drops forts to 2 with me losing more squads disabled than him...uh oh. Time to contingency plan. Silver lining is that it was the CMF garrison brigade that got shredded, the 'nicer' units look good.

The US units (2 Americal regiments + Tank Bn) are embarking in SW Oz, but at this rate trying to commit them might be futile. The biggest disaster would be them arriving in strat mode just as he breaks through...

India: Dimapur holds on again...he gets 1:2 odds but no casualties because apparently Indian 42 squads can't scratch the armor on IJA tanks..

Lots of back and forth air action that I guess we can call a draw. He swarms Calcutta with 120 Oscars and 50 Zeroes, which ultimately overwhelms my 2 Hurri squadrons and one of Mohawks (I 'upgraded' the Blenheim IF squadron to Mohawk IVs once that pool was empty...figure use all your planes, right?) but we take lots of fighters down with us. Three of my Hurri squadrons sweep Rajshashi, where I don't think he has AV support yet, but has 22 Oscars on CAP...we do well. USAAF 10th AF makes its first appearance in theater with a P40 squadron sweeping Diamond Harbour, but there's no opposition.

An IJN CL finds going upriver to be dangerous when it hits a mine.

In China he's repulsed at Kungchang with heavy losses. With Sian gone he's trying to work through the mountains towards Kienko, so far it's not working.

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 51
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/16/2020 4:30:53 AM   
aaffins

 

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3/24/42

The CD guns at Perth continue to punish the IJN amphibs and a Dutch SS knocks out a DD; nothing that will change the course of events, but attrition is good. His ground attack gets 2:1 odds and reduces our forts although we do disable/destroy 175 squads, forts reduced to 1; I think our time as owners of Perth is limited. KB flies a big strike on our Perth LCUs but at least our AAA bags a few.

Some back and forth over India, but nothing of major consequence.

He gets to 1:1 at Clark Field eliminating the fortifications, but takes 178 disables in the process, unfortunately similar amount for us and we don't have the supplies to rebuild...end is nigh.

3/25/42
I've been flying unopposed sweeps over Diamond Harbor for a couple days, so it seemed like it was time to deploy the stringbags against his 'harbor patrol'. Unfortunately the 2 DDs on station prove quite elusive (or the RN pilots inept) and our lads go a solid 0 for 23 (not counting level bombing attempts). Such is life as the Allies.

Several notable ground combats:

At Perth we get 1:1 with forts destroyed, but he does take a lot of squads destroyed, might be some fatigue creeping in albeit no modifier.

At Bandoeng we get 1:2 odds but take way more casualties (3:1 approx) I think we're about out of supplies...

At Clark Field he gets 1:2 with 170 disabled squads; he probably should have taken a few days to recover, but obviously it's only a matter of time now

By the way, my lone remaining USN CV, the Hornet, is safe docked at San Diego, pimping out her airgroup with optimized planes and all the pilots we saved from the dumpster fire off NW Oz a couple weeks ago.

3/26/42
I've been trying to sort of look scary on the ground in India by forward deploying low value mobile units to 'oppose' his advance whilst actually trying to avoid combat. Unfortunately the B Sqn 3rd Hussars is exposed as a fraud by IJA 4Es (welcome to BTS!) and the unit is wiped out.

On the ground at Perth he goes 1:1 again with a lot disables, he's destroying a good amount of my squads but I think he needs to rest.

In India the 1st Burma Div arrives at Dimapur and we launch a shock a attack, overwhelming the IJA 4th Tank Regt. Go team. Hope here is obviously to break out so the Burmese units can join our defense of Calcutta.




< Message edited by aaffins -- 4/16/2020 4:40:28 AM >

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 52
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/21/2020 12:47:36 AM   
aaffins

 

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3/27/42
Bombardments at Bataan and Calcutta; Nagato hits a couple mines at Bataan.

We stand down the CAP at Calcutta and our AAA (literally every unit in the theater right now) puts a hurting on, taking down over 20 Japanese bombers, minimal damage.

Nanumea falls.

3/28/42
Perth falls to a shock attack, as does Carnarvon.

After a lot of thought, I've decided to go all in to hold on holding Kalgoorlie. As long as we can keep the rail line open (which is pretty tough to close) we can keep up supply. We can put a lot of good combat troops in there. Distance to Perth is enough it's not an easy sweep for his Zeroes. We hold it for a few months and the tide will start to shift, Perth becomes a suckhole for the Japanese: long supply line, gauntlet of subs to run, vulnerable to naval interdiction. We'll see.
To support this, we have two regiments of the Americal Div. there, entrenching as quickly as we can. Several smaller RAA units and engineers either arriving or inbound. US Army 27th Div is moving over from NZ.




(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 53
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/21/2020 5:29:25 PM   
paradigmblue

 

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It's been fun following this AAR, thanks for the updates!

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 54
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/22/2020 8:55:27 AM   
CaptBeefheart


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Agreed. Good luck in SW Oz.

How's the Negative Waves game coming along?

Cheers,
CB

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(in reply to paradigmblue)
Post #: 55
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/25/2020 3:42:45 AM   
aaffins

 

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Thanks guys, appreciate it. It has been a pretty interesting game, in my opinion. Although I've certainly chipped in with some pretty dire play.

The Negative Waves game has been fairly quiet, our opponent has been a bit busy so we're more at a 3-4 turns a week pace as opposed to our original one a day. Don't want to say too much more because I know he reads this thread. Hi Adm. Yamaguchi =)

3/29/20
3 CLs hit Calcutta tonight, these bombardments are starting to present a little problem. With just cruisers he can't really close the airfield, particularly considering how many engineers I have, but he did knock out 5 a/c...that's attrition I can't really afford long term.

A quartet of BBs, including the Yamato have a go at Bataan. It's attriting supply but not the devastation you might expect, presumably because he's having to bombard from long range to avoid the mines.

The KB has stood off, we take advantage and get in a pretty effective bombardment of Perth with a couple CAs:
Japanese ground losses:
631 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 45 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Manpower hits 2
Fires 393
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 15
Port hits 4

CA Portland also has a nice hit on Johnston I.

Broome falls.

3/30/42
In response to the increasingly problematic bombardments of Calcutta by IJN cruisers we try to get the CM Abdiel upriver to lay mines at Calcutta, but a couple of DDs playing 'goalkeeper' at the river mouth at Diamond Harbour chase her off.

The air battle over Calcutta resumes, our Hurricanes perform well, getting about 3:1 against two groups (one zero, one oscar). Mohawks flying at a lower altitude aren't so good, as would be expected.

3/31/42
He gets a 1:1 at Clark Field, but we do get 100 disabled squads.

A Hurricane squadron ambushes his bombers over Dimapur and takes out a half a dozen Liz's (Japanese 4E's for those who haven't tried BTS)


4/1/42
Quiet turn. We sweep his leading ground elements approaching Asansol.

Abemama falls.

4/2/42

RN CLs Dauntless and Caledon have been cooped up at Calcutta since Diamond Harbor fell, the break out past the 'goalkeeping' IJN DDs, no damage to either side.

His leading elements arrive at Asansol (couple hexes north of Calcutta). He's now getting to the edge of where he can effectively LRCAP so we get the RAF Blenheims and Wellingtons (just arrived!) into action. His leading elements appear to be 55th Inf Regt and 5th Tank Regt. We don't do a great deal of damage, but harassment and delay is the name of the game, right? Unfortunately we have only garrisoned with a couple Indian "armored" units that are just equipped with improvised AFVs, which he sweeps aside with no issues.

I think he may be a little overextended here and I might have an opportunity. The RAF isn't exactly terrifying, but they're not a complete joke in terms of ground attack and he hasn't brought any air support to Asansol, so it will be difficult for him to cover his troops. Also some open terrain here and we know how that works for ground troops.

Port Hedland falls.

4/3/42
He tries to get some Oscars up over Asansol, the AVG puts a quick end to that, sweeping them aside. I think the range is too far for them to be really effective. Our bombers begin hitting the airfield at Asansol. I figure we can get it out action now so he won't be able to bring up av support to cover his troops.

Pamekasan, Baybay and Bacolod fall.

4/4/42
The RAF bombers go in before the sweeps at Asansol today and we lose a couple to Oscars, but they're not really capable of doing much. Surprised he's not putting more into this, both in terms of Zeroes and getting engineers/av support to the front.

We've been able to evac the bulk of our troops from Perth toward Kalgoorlie, the 19th Aus Brigade and a LH MG Regt (kind of battalion strength weird mixed unit) stay at Cunderdin as a rearguard. They repulse what looks like an armor-only attack, albeit with pretty heavy losses. This concerns...apparently AIF squads don't have sufficient AT to knock IJA armor.

4/5/42
The SS Salmon gets 4 shots at the CV Amagi near New Caledonia, not sure if any hit, but none worked.

The AVG gets back into action over Asansol, bagging quite a few Oscars.

The Burma retreat has encountered a problem, we're not able to dislodge an IJA armored regiment (tried a shock attack by 1st Burma Div) blocking the road and now we're getting hammered by Japanese bombers near Tezpur. Maybe back into the jungle?

KB is back off Perth, he hits our retreating units and we're predictably ejected from Cunderdin.

Tandjoengselor falls.

4/6/42
Dauntless and Caledon return to Diamond Harbor and encounter an inbound IJN Bombardment TF. We think we got the CL Natori, but Dauntless has to go into Calcutta with heavy damage:
Japanese Ships
CL Sendai
CL Nagara
CL Natori, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Arashi
DD Harukaze

Allied Ships
CL Dauntless, Shell hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Caledon

Over Asansol our boys continue to handle the IJA Oscars with ease, Hurricanes taking up the torch today.

Unfortunately further east the Burmese units are hammered by enemy air.

1:2 at Clark Field, but we're on the brink, he's starting to get a lot of destroyed squads, we start moving the trashed units back to Bataan.

(in reply to CaptBeefheart)
Post #: 56
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/28/2020 1:53:03 AM   
aaffins

 

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4/7/42

With the enemy fighters swept aside over Asansol we begin bombing. The RAF Blenheims and Wellingtons hit the airfield to try to keep him to just LRCAP, which will give us local air superiority.
The IJA 5th Tank Regt is advancing towards Ranchi, where is where he will meet serious resistance for the first time. We have an Aussie Brigade there and the Brit 70th Div is railing in from Karachi.

In W Oz I think he's starting to pick up that I'm going to fight for Kalgoorlie. Nearly 100 Zekes sweep and easily handle our squadron of RAAF Kittyhawks on CAP. The AF hit size 2 so now we can fly more than one squadron.
He kicks us out of Cunderdin with heavy casualties.

We hold the line against two divisions at Kweiyang.

Bandoeng's forts are reduced to one, our last bastion in the DEI will fall soon.

US reinforcements are beginning to flow towards India. The 40th Inf Div and 87th Mtn Regt along with some engineer units are en route from Capetown. Another couple fighter squadrons and some more ground troops arrived today and will depart soon.

(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 57
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/28/2020 3:50:22 AM   
aaffins

 

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4/8/42

Bombardments are continuing to become a problem at Calcutta...a couple older CLs knock out 3 planes and damage many more. Fairly certain with the frequency of attacks he's using an AKE at Chittagong to rearm them. None of the bombardments on their own are especially devastating, and with my flak it'll be tough for him to really close the airfield, but I also can't afford to let him attrite my plane pools via bombardment.
The RAF bombers continue to do their work closing the Asansol airfield before he can get Av support in and deploy CAP.
We're not going to be able to break out of East India via the main road, we get hammered by IJ bombers and an all armor attack hits us hard (no AT weapons). Have to pull back and see if we can figure out another way out.

Bandoeng falls, essentially ending Dutch resistance.


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Post #: 58
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/28/2020 12:09:54 PM   
RangerJoe


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Bomb the port at Chittagong at night. Also, see if you can get some MTBs at Calcutta for a low moonlight and/or a stormy period. Bring up some CD guns if possible. Night air search as well. If he still owns Diamond Harbor but you can get units there, a CD unit there could be a surprise.

_____________________________

Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
― Julia Child


(in reply to aaffins)
Post #: 59
RE: Catfished! A grudge match - Cheesteak (J) v. Aaffin... - 4/28/2020 12:45:39 PM   
inqistor


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Put some submarines at approaching route to Calcutta.

MTBs are crap. Actually all PTs except US use short range torpedoes. They have chance to engage only against transports at night.

< Message edited by inqistor -- 4/28/2020 12:47:32 PM >

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Post #: 60
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