RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/7/2020 12:02:50 AM

apbarog

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Joined: 5/23/2002
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14 May 44

Helens and Peggys attacked Oita's airfield at night. Some planes were damaged, and a few P-47s were destroyed. I don't have enough night fighters for all of the bases at risk at and near Japan, so I put some P-38s on night duty at Oita.

Peggys went for Naha's port, at night also, but didn't hit anything. Some Hellcats were on night duty there.

3 US Fletcher class destroyers sprinted to the straits near Kobe, into a hex where enemy minesweepers are still clearing US mines. AMc Takunan Maru #7 was sunk by a shell from destroyer Halford.

P-38s swept Rashin but found no CAP. B-24s bombed the airfield and port, causing minor damage.

Iki-shima was bombarded by the US battleships again. 503 casualties and most were destroyed devices, so the defenders appear to have been battered from the week of bombardments. Some bombers hit the Iki Fortress unit. Australina paratroopers dropped onto Iki-shima.

Ground combat at Iki-shima (102,57)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 1045 troops, 14 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 36

Defending force 476 troops, 30 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Allied adjusted assault: 26

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 26 to 1 (fort level 1)

Allied forces CAPTURE Iki-shima !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 23 (23 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
1st Aus Para Bn /1

Defending units:
Iki Fortress

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 2101

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/7/2020 1:31:31 AM

CaptBeefheart

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From: Seoul, Korea
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I think once you're on the Home Islands there's no need to worry about Thailand or Indochina. If I remember correctly, those bases don't have a lot of VP.

I'd say your invasion of the north coast of Honshu will put this away. When is H-Day? It doesn't look like you could rack up enough strategic points alone in May-June 1944 to win it.

Cheers,
CB

_____________________________

Beer, because barley makes lousy bread.

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Post #: 2102

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/7/2020 2:47:27 AM

apbarog

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Joined: 5/23/2002
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Phase one is crossing the land bridge to the main island. Troops are moving into position for that. They should be in place in about 3 days. They will then cross. The defense is very strong on the other side, and I don't expect to win that fight. If I can sweep the mines there, battleships based just one hex away at Furuoka will help a lot. I don't know if there is a fortress unit there, and I don't use the editor to find out. Regardless, the goal of phase one is to start to pull in more enemy units to that point.

Phase two is to land just southeast, just across from Oita and adjacent to Hiroshima. This will present a problem for the enemy defense, with a landing just behind them. More enemy units should come to the area at this point, to defend Hiroshima.

Phase three is the main landing, and will be on the "north" coast at Tottori. This landing will be very big and, with just one hex of movement to the west, into a smaller base, completely cut off everything to the "west".

Phase one and two don't need carrier support. Phase three does. I have all of the big US carriers at Hong Kong and Manila getting repaired, with 2 weeks needed for all of them. I may pull them out sooner. The damage is all minor and they don't have to be completely fixed for this operation.

So, the crossing should be ordered in about 3 days, with the actual crossing a few days after that.

(in reply to CaptBeefheart)

Post #: 2103

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/7/2020 9:49:22 PM

apbarog

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15 May 44

2 US YMS went to Fusan looking for mines. They found some, and swept 5, but were pounded by yet another fortress unit, the Fusan Fortress. Both ships sank on the way home.

27 Bettys hit Tulagi's port at night. Tulagi? Backwater port in a backwater region. I guess that counts as a target of opportunity.

Near Nakhodka, a task force appeared to be moving from the Korean coast towards Japan. Sub Apogon fired 4 torpedoes at light cruiser Kashii, and got a hit causing heavy damage. Also spotted were 3 AKs and some DDs.

Allied fighters swept Pakhoi, and British bombers hit the airfield. I spotted an airbase unit walking to Pakhoi, which is a sizable airbase but has been quiet up to now. Pakhoi is a short distance west from Hong Kong, so it is a potential threat, especially with carriers being repaired at Hong Kong. The bombers did moderate damage to the airfield.

I'm making a big effort at Kobe today. Lots of P-47s and P-38s will sweep. B-24s will bomb the airfield and port during the day, and B-29s will hit the city during the day. This is the first big risk that I've taken with the B-29s. Kobe was swept recently, but still showing just under 100 fighters. Up until now, only 2 B-29s had been lost, and those were lost transferring from Bombay to Formosa. Could be more lost today, if the sweepers don't go in first.

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Post #: 2104

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/9/2020 12:19:24 AM

apbarog

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16 May 44

Salmon hit cruiser Mogami with a torpedo between Korea and Hokkaido. Mogami was with Kongo, 6 other cruisers and 8 destroyers. Direction of movement unknown, but ships have generally been leaving Korea after all the attention I was giving it.

Bluefish hit xAK Rozan Maru with a torpedo near Shikuka. The ship was carrying fuel and burned, and probably sank after combat.

Bad news over Kobe. The bombers flew before the sweepers. 49 Tonys and 59 Franks were on CAP. Severe storms affected accuracy and the bomb damage was minimal. 32 B-24s were shot down, along with 6 B-29-1s. 8 Franks and 7 Tonys were downed, mostly by the bombers. Only 1 enemy fighter was still flying after the bombers had attacked and the sweepers finally arrived.

The sweepers were based at Oita, and had the shortest distance to fly to target. However, the air units there are not attached to the air HQ at Oita. The B-29s, based at far away Formosa, are at the location of their attached air HQ. Does this matter? I don't know, but it might. To try and test this out a bit, I switched all of the fighters at Oita to be attached to the air HQ at Oita. But first I need my bombers to rest and recuperate. Fortunately, my B-24J pool was over 70, so I have replacements, and I had only lost 2 B-29s up until today.

Hundreds of ships, including all of the APAs, are leaving the Manila area to head towards Japan. I want them to be close when I decide to pull the trigger on the next amphibious invasion, which is phase 2 of the next operation, as described yesterday.

Attachment (1)

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Post #: 2105

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/9/2020 8:57:51 PM

apbarog

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17 May 44

Light cruiser Kashii was hit by a torpedo two days ago. Today, Paddle hit Kashii with another torpedo, and audio suggests that the ship sank.

US bombers hit Shimonoseki and the enemy troops there. Allied troops are almost in place to the southwest, almost ready to start the move into Shimonoseki from Kyushu.

Sub Flier spotted the xAK convoy engaged yesterday, generally south of Ominato. The ships are definitely southbound. Flier hit xAK Kinugasa Maru with 2 torpedoes. The ship was carrying fuel, and it probably sank. So, fuel is being moved from Japan to points south. Extrapolating the convoy's movement which seem to be due south now, it is headed towards Marcus Island. Maybe that's the destination, or probably just a waypoint. Destroyers are formed up at Amami Oshima and will attempt to move past the Jima Islands and possibly do an intercept near Marcus.

Doing a huge fighter sweep of Hiroshima today.

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Post #: 2106

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/9/2020 11:03:26 PM

BBfanboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: apbarog

17 May 44

Light cruiser Kashii was hit by a torpedo two days ago. Today, Paddle hit Kashii with another torpedo, and audio suggests that the ship sank.

US bombers hit Shimonoseki and the enemy troops there. Allied troops are almost in place to the southwest, almost ready to start the move into Shimonoseki from Kyushu.

Sub Flier spotted the xAK convoy engaged yesterday, generally south of Ominato. The ships are definitely southbound. Flier hit xAK Kinugasa Maru with 2 torpedoes. The ship was carrying fuel, and it probably sank. So, fuel is being moved from Japan to points south. Extrapolating the convoy's movement which seem to be due south now, it is headed towards Marcus Island. Maybe that's the destination, or probably just a waypoint. Destroyers are formed up at Amami Oshima and will attempt to move past the Jima Islands and possibly do an intercept near Marcus.

Doing a huge fighter sweep of Hiroshima today.

I wonder if the Japanese have moved their fleet or merchant ships to the south to keep you from sinking them for points. Thinking of the 100 ships that disappeared from Ominato or Hakodate. I can't think of any other reason to send fuel away from the home islands.

_____________________________

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: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/11/2020 1:12:33 AM

apbarog

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18 May 44

Big US air effort with fighter sweeps over Hiroshima, using P-47s and P-38s. 36 Zeros, 69 Georges and 36 Franks are reported to be on CAP at the beginning of the day. By the end of the day, losses were 31 Zeros, 55 Georges and 27 Franks, for the cost of 24 P-47s and 7 P-38s. It's time to use brute strength and just keep sweeping the skies. The P-47s will rest for a day or two, then repeat.

The Iki Fortress died from attrition on Iki-shima, clearing the island of enemy. The Australian paras will be brought back to Nagasaki.

The Allied stack, led by 3 USMC divisions, will begin the crossing movement today. Looking closely at the movement orders for one, I see that this crossing will count as a river crossing. It's going to be bloody but necessary, and will probably result in a stalemate on the other side. But that's phase one of the plan already detailed.

(in reply to BBfanboy)

Post #: 2108

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/12/2020 12:52:48 AM

apbarog

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19 May 44

DMS Hamilton and AMc Futurist went to Shimonoseki to clear mines. They found some mines, but also found the Shimonoseki Fortress, which sank both ships. Looks like I can almost start assuming that every coastal base on Japan has a fortress of some type or another. There are more of them in DBB than in stock games, but I don't know if that applies to Japan itself. Regardless, the 6 slow US battleships at adjacent Fukuoka will start to bombard Shimonoseki, mines or not.

Sub Pipefish sank LST T-116 near Akita.

I-5 spotted a tanker convoy near Portland Roads. It's been awhile since there have been enemy subs in this area. DD Isaac Sweers did get a depth charge hit on the sub.

B-24s hit Bangkok, doing moderate damage to the airfield and sinking an ACM in port.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/12/2020 8:41:27 PM

apbarog

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20 May 44

US slow battleships moved to Shimonoseki to bombard. Destroyer Walker hit a mine. Walker will move to nearby Nagasaki for repairs. With just one mine hit, there may be fewer mines there than other recent places encountered. The bombardment was a good one, with the enemy in clear terrain:

Night Naval bombardment of Shimonoseki at 104,57 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1 Rex: 1 damaged
N1K1 Rex: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico
BB Tennessee
BB California
BB Arizona
BB Oklahoma
BB Nevada
CA Cranberry
CA Dorsetshire
CA Wichita
DD Waller
DD Mertz
DD Hunt
DD Cowell
DD Charrette
DD Abbot

Japanese ground losses:
1305 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 20 destroyed, 119 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 46 (13 destroyed, 33 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (3 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Merchant Shipyard hits 1
Airbase hits 13
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 25
Port hits 4

BB New Mexico firing at Shimonoseki Fortress

These bombardments will continue nightly. Troops are moving to cross. They are making 5 miles a day, and have traveled 10 miles total, so it will be awhile. By the time they cross, the bombardments and bombings should have softened things up.

Peggys went for Naha's port at night. 20 normal Hellcats were on night duty. Very little contact made but no bombs hit in clear sky.

6 US destroyers made a dash towards Nagoya, stopping just outside the base. They encountered 2 sub chasers and sank both. The DDs then sprinted back towards Amami Oshima. Just a raid. Nothing west of Tokyo bigger than a sub chaser, as far as I can tell.

Franks swept Kagoshima. Kagoshima is the most weakly defended base, by CAP. It has just a single destroyer repairing. Hellcats and Corsairs defended, and did fairly well considering these were Franks. 13 Franks were downed for the cost of 11 Hellcats and a Corsair.

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Post #: 2110

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/12/2020 11:04:34 PM

BBfanboy

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From: Winnipeg, MB
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quote:

apbarog: Troops are moving to cross. They are making 5 miles a day, and have traveled 10 miles total, so it will be awhile.

Movement on land is by segment; from center of hex to edge of hex is one segement, from edge of adjoining hex to center of next hex is another segment. The LCU must complete the entire 46 miles to arrive in the next hex, but the rate of movement is set by the terrain and paths/roads/railroads in each segment.
Using the "R" key, the route you are taking to Shimonoseki is a pink "path" in your origin hex but a "major road" in the Shimonoseki hex. That means that once you have traveled 25 miles (based on 5 miles a day for five days, the origin hex side + 2miles) the rate of travel goes to 30 miles for your LCUs in move/reserve mode. They could arrive in Shimonoseki that turn but not ready to fight.

Setting them to Combat mode at that time would slow their rate to 15 miles a day and take two days to get to Shimonoseki but they would arrive ready to fight the shock attack.

< Message edited by BBfanboy -- 12/12/2020 11:06:41 PM >

_____________________________

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: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/12/2020 11:24:41 PM

apbarog

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

quote:

apbarog: Troops are moving to cross. They are making 5 miles a day, and have traveled 10 miles total, so it will be awhile.

Movement on land is by segment; from center of hex to edge of hex is one segement, from edge of adjoining hex to center of next hex is another segment. The LCU must complete the entire 46 miles to arrive in the next hex, but the rate of movement is set by the terrain and paths/roads/railroads in each segment.
Using the "R" key, the route you are taking to Shimonoseki is a pink "path" in your origin hex but a "major road" in the Shimonoseki hex. That means that once you have traveled 25 miles (based on 5 miles a day for five days, the origin hex side + 2miles) the rate of travel goes to 30 miles for your LCUs in move/reserve mode. They could arrive in Shimonoseki that turn but not ready to fight.

Setting them to Combat mode at that time would slow their rate to 15 miles a day and take two days to get to Shimonoseki but they would arrive ready to fight the shock attack.

Thanks BBfanboy. I understand how the movement works. I didn't notice the type of road being used for the crossing. It's all good though. I have all of the units in combat mode, and following one of the divisions, so they are all moving together. The movement will just be sooner than I had thought.

My APAs, AKAs and LSTs are approaching Okinawa. Some will continue on to Nagasaki to unload supply. Others will hang out hiding in plain sight at the dot base just NW of Okinawa. OPilot is an expert at recon. All of my major bases get looked at every day. But disappearing can be just moving one hex away to a tiny base (and staying in a TF).

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/14/2020 1:09:49 AM

apbarog

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21 May 44

3 more US YMS's went to Shimonoseki to clear mines. They cleared 42 of them, and were all sunk by the Shimonoseki Fortress. The US battleships have done a good job bombarding Shimonoseki, but they have not silenced the guns. I think the better approach would have been to send in minesweepers at the beginning to find the minefields, then just send in the battleships and hope for the best. With the minefields found, there should be fewer mines hit. The small sweepers just cannot stand up to the fortress units. The battleships did hit again, causing 715 casualties, with some devices starting to be destroyed. 1755 fires were started, and other base damage was caused.

The enemy went after the Allied troops showing movement to cross to Shimonoseki. Georges and Franks swept, but found a mix of ranged CAP from the surrounding bases. The defenders did well against the best of the enemy fighters. Helens and Peggys followed, with Tojo escorts. Little was done to these strikes. Bombing damage was light to the troops. Total air losses were 18 Georges, 17 Franks, 4 Peggys, 2 Helens and a Tojo, for the cost of 13 P-38s, 7 P-47s, 3 F6F-3s, and 2 F4U-1As.

B-24s and B-29s will hit the city of Hiroshima at night tonight.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/14/2020 1:13:55 AM

CaptBeefheart

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Have you ever tried sending DMSs on those shore bombardment runs? That might be a relatively painless way to sweep.

Cheers,
CB

_____________________________

Beer, because barley makes lousy bread.

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Post #: 2114

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/14/2020 1:18:08 AM

apbarog

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quote:

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

Have you ever tried sending DMSs on those shore bombardment runs? That might be a relatively painless way to sweep.

Cheers,
CB

I have not tried that. That might work. Not sure if that is a good plan or a game work-around.

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Post #: 2115

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/14/2020 1:25:22 AM

CaptBeefheart

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I got that advice from someone on this forum. I wouldn't consider it gamey myself. I also put minesweepers in amphibious TFs.

Cheers,
CB

_____________________________

Beer, because barley makes lousy bread.

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Post #: 2116

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/14/2020 4:10:19 AM

BBfanboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

I got that advice from someone on this forum. I wouldn't consider it gamey myself. I also put minesweepers in amphibious TFs.

Cheers,
CB

+1 for AMs, but DMS are good as part of the bombardment TF - just don't set the escorts to bombard so they can sweep mines.

_____________________________

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: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/14/2020 9:52:35 AM

Sardaukar

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It'd be perfectly sensible to use DMS in Bombardment TF.

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Post #: 2118

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/15/2020 3:32:42 AM

apbarog

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22 May 44

Peggys attacked the port at Nagasaki at night. Night-fighting Corsairs were on patrol, and a Peggy was actually shot down with a critical hit. No bombs were on target in overcast conditions.

Hiroshima was attacked by B-24s and B-29s at night. Accuracy was poor in moderate rain. The bombers did encounter heavy flak while flying at 12000 feet. Flak got 2 Liberators and a Superfortress. Some fire was started but nothing great. If I can clear the enemy fighters consistently, day bombing is much more effective.

The slow US battleships bombarded Shimonoseki, as usual. Good results. I will try adding a DMS to the task force for tonight's bombardment. Lots of bombers hit the enemy troops at Shimonoseki also. I'm seeing movement out of Shimonoseki, and movement east out of Hiroshima also. I really don't think I'm seeing a general withdrawal though. Probably base support leaving bases that have become difficult to base aircraft at.

The US destroyers made it to Marcus Island, but encountered no enemy ships there. They were spotted, but not attacked. Based on where I'd seen the xAK task force well to the north, but southbound, I estimated 6 hexes a day of movement. If they had continued to Marcus, there would have been an encounter. It was long odds, but worth trying. The destroyers made a full speed run into Marcus, so they'll RTB to the nearest base, which is Wake Island. Then probably on to Pearl Harbor to fix up some minor damage from the sprint.

(in reply to Sardaukar)

Post #: 2119

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/15/2020 9:52:01 PM

apbarog

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23 May 44

DMS Howard tagged along with the battleships, going to Shimonoseki on the daily bombardment mission. Howard was hit by 4 shells from the fortress unit during the minesweeping phase, before the bombardment. No other ships were hit. Howard is SYS 12/FLOT 20-9/ENG 0/FIRE 0. Better than being sunk, I guess. Not sure if this experiment was a success or a failure.

The bombardment was effective.

BB Haruna and escorts were spotted near Shikuka.

Sub Pipefish sank tiny YO J-3884 near Ominato. The oiler was loaded with oil. Pipefish sank an LST just 4 days ago.

16 Nicks attacked Nagasaki during the day. 25 P-47s were defending, and 13 Nicks were shot down. Not sure what the Nicks were doing there. Maybe a misdirected night raid.

xAKLs and a TK spotted east of Babeldaob. Stingray was unable to engage.

The war is now 900 days old. I figure I've spent an average of 3 hours per turn. 2700 hours. 112 twenty-four hour periods. That's about 3 months out of the past 2.5 years. Someone ask if this game was worth the price?

Now figure that I've been playing this game, or its predecessors, for decades. We're talking years of my life in game.

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Post #: 2120

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/17/2020 2:57:03 AM

apbarog

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24 May 44

Submarine Sand Lance was lost north of Toyama. It was engaged by 3 E-boats. E-boat No.14 forced it to the surface with depth charges and it was finished off with guns. It was in deep water. The level of enemy air ASW has increased dramatically in the past several months. US subs are finding few sizable targets, and going home regularly with battle damage. It would almost be worth moving them away from the coast, but with the upcoming move towards Hiroshima, I want them in the Sea of Japan in case the enemy battleships show up.

The enemy has reinforced Shimonoseki. Now there's over 60000 men and more tanks. The daily bombardment caused 1056 casualties overnight, with devices being destroyed. US Marines and support have covered 30 of the 45 miles in the crossing to Shimonoseki.

I'm preparing for the next landing. APAs and LSTs are moving to Nagasaki. US carriers are near Okinawa and will escort the transports to Nagasaki. Other US carriers are leaving Manila for Japan. The carries aren't needed for the crossing, or the nearby landing, but the enemy doesn't know that.

A US sub got a 3/3 detection level in the middle of nowhere northwest of Marcus Island. I suspect enemy carriers there, moving to investigate the Marcus area after US destroyers visited and left without finding anything a couple of days ago.

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Post #: 2121

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/17/2020 3:16:44 AM

BBfanboy

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When Japan's coast gets too hot, most players seem to set up sub patrol zones that zig zag in vertically to a point close to shore and depart immediately after. If the enemy Air ASW detects them the DL is usually not high enough for them to attack and when the sub leaves the enemy Surface ASW goes to the hex and finds nothing. You need a lot of subs to cover the same strip of water, but you send less to port with damage or to their doom.

_____________________________

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 #: 2122

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/17/2020 10:20:24 PM

apbarog

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25 May 44

Destroyer Charrette hit a mine escorting battleships on the daily run to Shimonoseki. It would be a bigger concern if the huge port of Nagasaki wasn't so close. Charrette is SYS 18/FLOT 33-33/ENG 29-27/FIRE 0.

US destroyers sprint towards Toyama, looking for sub chasers, and finding them.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Toyama at 113,56, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
E No.2, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
E No.4, Shell hits 12, and is sunk
E No.14, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
E No.20, Shell hits 12, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Haggard
DD Hailey
DD McCord
DD Twining

Low visibility due to Thunderstorms with 10% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 10% moonlight: 2,000 yards

The daily bombardment of Shimonoseki.

Night Naval bombardment of Shimonoseki at 104,57

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico
BB Tennessee
BB California
BB Arizona
BB Oklahoma
BB Nevada
CA Cranberry
CA Dorsetshire
CA Wichita
DD Mertz
DD Hunt
DD Cowell
DD Abbot

Japanese ground losses:
1206 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 27 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 44 (20 destroyed, 24 disabled)
Vehicles lost 10 (4 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Light Industry hits 3
Resources hits 2
Repair Shipyard hits 2
Refinery hits 1
Manpower hits 2
Fires 2589
Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 12
Port hits 18

The planned sweeps of Hiroshima did not take place. Trying again today.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/18/2020 9:30:40 PM

apbarog

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26 May 44

I got SigInt the other day about an SST heading for Singkawang on Borneo. I moved some DEs and DDs to the area from nearby Singapore. Destroyers McKee and Radford engaged SST Yu-8 just north of Singkawang, getting a depth charge hit and near misses. This sub will probably get away.

48 Franks swept Tanegashima, just south of Kyushu. Tanegashima is a size 6 airfield, but it is the long hanging fruit in the area. I base recon and some Catalinas there. I had about 28 Hellcats on CAP. It was a slaughter, with 21 Hellcats lost and just one Frank lost to an ops loss. The Hellcats will recover in place, and some P-51s are moved in to help with defense. The other big bases on Kyushu have strong fighter defenses. OPilot has tested them, and doesn't go back to them. With Tanegashima, it's just a case that you can't defend everything heavily every day.

The US fighter sweep of Hiroshima didn't take place, again.

The Marine stack is now 40 miles towards moving to Shimonoseki, moving 5 miles a day. They won't quite make it there with the next turn, but in 2 days. The enemy keeps getting pounded by battleships and bombers. APAs will start to load for the first flanking invasion tomorrow.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/19/2020 10:23:53 PM

apbarog

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27 May 44

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/20/2020 11:41:20 PM

apbarog

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28 May 44

Peggys and Helens bombed Fukuoka's port at night. 5 night-fighting Corsairs were on patrol but a bomb hit submarine Perch II, which was in the shipyard repairing 15 SYS damage. Now it has SYS 46 and FLOT 9.

22 P-51B Mustangs swept Sian, finding 21 Franks. One Mustang lost. The Mustangs aren't as good in the game as they really were, nor as good as the P-47s in the game. Not a big deal. I don't get that many of them, until a better variant later in the war.

British bombers hit Chichi-jima, causing minor airbase damage. Just a nuisance raid.

120 Hellcats from the carriers swept Hiroshima. Despite seeing over 50 enemy fighters there, there was no CAP. 61 B-29s hit Hiroshima during the day, enjoying the lack of enemy fighters. Some fires were started. Some B-24s hit the airbase and the port.

3 US DEs sank I-44 near Daito Shoto.

Shimonoseki got the daily battleship bombardment. Over 700 casualties. 4 US divisions plus support crossed into Shimonoseki, triggering a shock attack.

Ground combat at Shimonoseki (104,57)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 54982 troops, 745 guns, 948 vehicles, Assault Value = 1849

Defending force 50319 troops, 534 guns, 276 vehicles, Assault Value = 1310

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 980

Japanese adjusted defense: 498

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
3981 casualties reported
Squads: 93 destroyed, 355 disabled
Non Combat: 43 destroyed, 198 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 31 disabled
Guns lost 139 (59 destroyed, 80 disabled)
Vehicles lost 92 (53 destroyed, 39 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

Allied ground losses:
3227 casualties reported
Squads: 20 destroyed, 164 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 88 disabled
Engineers: 29 destroyed, 41 disabled
Guns lost 50 (7 destroyed, 43 disabled)
Vehicles lost 176 (24 destroyed, 152 disabled)

Assaulting units:
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
34th Cmbt Engineer Regiment
193rd Tank Battalion
2nd Marine Division
3rd Marine Division
1st Marine Division
1st (Spec) Cavalry Division
754th Tank Battalion
110th Cmbt Engineer Battalion
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
Sixth US Army
145th Field Artillery Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
147th Field Artillery Battalion
249th Field Artillery Battalion
225th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
1st Amph.Bde Tank Battalion
35th Ind.Mixed Brigade
86th Division
12th Division
19th Ind.Mixed Brigade
58th Infantry Regiment
138th Infantry Regiment
124th Infantry Regiment
1st Ind.Tank Co
Shimonoseki Fortress
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
101st AA Regiment
7th Area Army
32nd Army
79th Field AA Battalion
16th AA Regiment
80th Field AA Battalion
Oita JNAF Base Force

Lots of casualties. I feared worse though. The artillery will continue bombarding while the rest recover from high disruption. Now we'll see if OPilot reinforces here. He may not have time to do so, really, with my next landing in 2 days. But those first two attacks are just the jabs. The roundhouse knockout blow will be at Tottori afterwards.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/21/2020 1:41:35 AM

BBfanboy

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I'd say that crossing did rather well! Looking at the squads/devices destroyed and disabled, it looks like his squads were about half strength - for a similar casualty count he had twice as many squads destroyed or disabled. That means at least some of his units are probably newly formed and still filling out - I don't think the few bombardments would have knocked out half his troops already. You shouldn't have much trouble taking the base - he has no arty units and only one small battered tank company , unless that is one of the destroyed units.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/21/2020 3:48:39 AM

apbarog

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

I'd say that crossing did rather well! Looking at the squads/devices destroyed and disabled, it looks like his squads were about half strength - for a similar casualty count he had twice as many squads destroyed or disabled. That means at least some of his units are probably newly formed and still filling out - I don't think the few bombardments would have knocked out half his troops already. You shouldn't have much trouble taking the base - he has no arty units and only one small battered tank company , unless that is one of the destroyed units.

I think it went well. It looks like I could have used a more direct strategy of doing this attack and having more units crossing directly to reinforce and push further. We'll see if OPilot reinforces.

I see now that my attack just missed 2 to 1 odds.

Today I was impressed that I loaded all of the Nagasaki troops for the Tokuyama invasion in one day. 5 divisions plus lots of support. Nagasaki, of course, is a huge port, and I have one of the biggest port support units there to help.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/21/2020 11:32:27 PM

apbarog

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29 May 44

A few days ago, I stopped worrying about the range of my carrier naval bombers every turn. Each day, my carriers dance around Japan, with the range to a big enemy base, usually Hiroshima, changing. I have to go into every carrier task force, then every carrier, then every bomber unit, and change the range to one less than the range to that big base. It's a pain and I got tired of it. I was ok for a few days, but my laziness hurt me today.

Carrier bombers and a fair number of fighters flew to Kobe to attack a single sub chaser. There were 122 Franks and 41 Tojos on CAP. Losses were heavy:

33 Hellcats
31 Helldivers
14 FM-2s
12 Corsair IIs

They shot down just 3 Tojos and a Frank. 4 US aces were KIA. The sub chaser was sunk, despite just 4 dive bombers getting through to drop. This late in the war, there's a lot of carriers to deal with, and I got tired. But the need for attention to detail does not go away.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/22/2020 1:23:14 AM

CaptBeefheart

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From: Seoul, Korea
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Can't you click "Set All Dive Bombers in Hex?" With that and the button for TBs I don't find it hard to adjust naval attack range.

Also, well done at Shimonoseki. I was expecting your guys to get a bit more shredded. And good luck with the next two invasions.

Cheers,
CB

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