Luskan -> RE: How to skin a Ladyboy with a Banana. (2/26/2009 1:00:11 PM)
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Ok - so the next chapter and verse of this little drama was pretty straightforward. In Burma: I held at Mandalay and bombed Pagan from Chandpur, Akyab and Mandalay while Hooper tried to take Mandalay now and then, bombs mandalay or Akyab from Rangoon. After a while he starts to conserve his level bombers because my spits and hurris are really starting to get some good exp and be very dangerous to bombers. No range though, and I remain unable to drop a big hit on Andaman (range) or Rangoon (range + CAP) - even with brt liberators getting introduced to replace the wellingtons slowly. This theatre (aside from some big air battles) stays stagnant until mid 1943. In the Pacific: I prepare for the invasion launching from Baker (rally point only really) -> Tarawa. 5 of my 6 original CVs are back in business, I have a couple of CVEs and CVLs to augment my covering CV fleet, I've replaced all the dead pilots from before, I'm now 100% F4F, and feeling good about my chances of a rematch (last CV battle cost about a thousand pilots for both sides all up but 0 ships - every US CV damaged to some extent and half the japs damaged a bit - most of the pilots lost were mine by drowning). I load a LOT of firepower into this landing force, including 2 marine divisions (1st Marine not included - still only at about 67% repaired after the Wake disaster), 2 army divisions, loads of RCTs, ENG, etc. etc. Basically I've got the kitchen sink and all either at Baker, or on ships rallied at Baker, ready to go in. I may be remembering some of this a little out of order. Anyhow - Hooper had left the northernmost island in the Gilberts (forget the name still) untaken - it was still US base. So the first step was a trio of sub transport TFs, 25 subs each, landing 2 marine raider detachments on the island with a little supply, followed by 2 fast transport TFs that delivered more supply, returned to baker, loaded a SeeBees unit and dumped them on the island to start building an airbase (I have the most dakotas in the world at Baker - nothing else flying from the base except for 6 catalinas). Hooper bombards (my warning that he's noticed) and start bombing the place (lightly - he didn't over commit) from Tarawa. He starts to damage the fast transport groups that run every 2 or 3 days into the base, carrying more engineers, the small parts of a CD unit, more engineers etc. He tried a crappy counter invasion and gives up after landing 400 troops which are massacred and retires. Then I decide it is time to send in normal transports, with CV cover to this base (Apanama? or that might be the southern one). 2 hexes from Tarawa -> I need those CVs, and I send in 4 different surface combat groups (all my combat ships in the world at this point - most of the destroyers are British for crying out loud), with 2 new BBs, 2 old BBs (one of them the PoW) and a BC (Repulse), about 7 CAs (2 british) and escorts to cover the 200 transports and their precious cargo of troops, planes and mass supply. If I pull off this one move, i'll be able to barge/landing craft from the northern base onto Tarawa, and have all the aircover a size 4 (once built) base can give me, and I'll never have to risk my CVs and slow transports there again - I plan to dump all the invasion troops onto the northern base and just use one or two small ship tfs to ferry them onto the beach. I can't risk the transports Vs Hoopers CD units again. I get there without incident and Hooper's battle groups (1 group with 3 BBs + escorts and 1 with CLs and DDs only) strike the next night - either he was lucky or he was waiting. Repulse cops a nasty big shell from Yamato (or something with big big guns) and is shattered in the opening shot, but doesn't get long lanced (which would have been the end of her). PoW does a sterling job, taking a serious pounding from the enemy BBs, and a torp hit but holding them off the transports as Hooper's DDs manifestly outclass the british and smash them one after the other - about half sink. PoW vs Yamato at 3000 yards with their AA armaments was cool - but I didn't land any really big hits here. My CAs (Shropshire especially) land lots of 8 inch hits on Hooper's BBs but apart from a bit of a glow around a couple they didn't really hurt him. Enemy BB group leaves the smashed up PoW group (both cap ships at 50 sys or more, half the escorts sunk, the other half damaged for 1 enemy DD sunk and 1 damaged) and Tanaka takes on my second BB group, with 2 old battlewagons in it. These battlewagons were surprised, and took a few hits each (not as bad as PoW) and I lose a few more British and Australian destroyers. An aussie CA gets line and length on a jap CL for a while but that is about it. Hooper's light group engages, and torps one of the aforementioned (again - surprised) battlewagons, and sink a pair of my CAs in one of the few long lance attacks (where the admiral launches the lances and retires) of the game. Surface combat over, CVs and transports alive, and I still have 2 unengaged, undamaged BBs (unusual for me). The cripples start to limp home and I get another two days of precious unloading time and the airfield nears size 1 (taking forever) when Hooper's CVs show up - I get some intel that tells me what hex Kaga is in, I look it up and they're about a half day north towards Kwajalein. I order Halsey and the CVs north, as the airfield finally hits size 1, and I immediately transfer in my only squadron of Corsairs (arrived very, very late in this game). Corsairs don't do a great job (65 exp) vs Hoopers planes but they do enough (and I get in a BB bombardment - lose a DD to a mine at Tarawa, but quietens the bombings down for a bit). Long story short on the CV battle, both sides see each other, close and launch. Both sides get annoying, confused launches without concentrating - my attack was about 25 "waves" of unescorted bombers or escorted bombers etc, all in groups of 10 or 25. Same with Hooper. I get lucky - very lucky - on the first round, putting a bomb through a CVL and a CV and getting a nice fuel explosion. I put another bomb through a CV but don't see much damage other than an AA mount destroyed. Not a single torpedo hit, and Hooper's CAP (who mostly survived and benefited from our last CV vs CV tangle) kill basically every torpedo plane sent at them. Hooper has 3or 4 groups not find my CVs, and the rest tangle with my CAP but don't get any hits (aside from a CVE that cops a few bombs). I'm thinking: I've got him! I'm going to smash him! Hair-on-fire-Halsey charges in the next day for the kills and the glory, expecting Hooper to have retired after such a bad start - to find the jap carriers charged at him and they passed in the night - they're behind him now. This time when they launch, I still get stupid staggered attacks, and I get half a dozen hits on 3-4 different CVs, my wildcats are doing ok on escort, but I'm now basically out of Torpedo bombers, and starting to look a bit thin on dauntlesses as well. Hooper gets a nice concentrated attack, that while a bit smaller than the day before (he had some flight decks out from my damage) the quality and condensed attack pattern made a difference. His zeros blew right through the cap, and the shooting gallery commenced (again). Enterprise took 4 torpedoes and 3 bombs, but didn't sink - limped back to Baker at 95 sys and 80 flt and 15 fire. Saratoga cops 3 torps Lexington cops about 8 bombs and an ammo explosion Hornet takes 2 torps Yorktown takes 2 torps 2 bombs, but no that badly damaged Another 2 CVEs are damaged and I think a 3rd is sunk. Fortunately, I had so few planes that the Hornet and Yorktown were still able to recover most of the returning planes. Now my surviving 2 BBs, remember them? They go play decoy while Hooper's CVs close for the kill. Both BBs get smashed up, and I lose another 2 CAs and DDs (who shot dwn a few bombers with good flak) giving me 3-4 days while Hooper flails madly but can't find my cripples in hte bad weather. Some make it to my Gilberts base, some make it to Baker, Hornet and Yorktown run for Pearl but stop halfway to put some runaway flt damage to rights. Again, a CV battle, AGAIN no clear winner and no fleet CVs sunk, although AGAIN I've come off definitely second best. Again, the invasion fleet survives unmolested, and AGAIN I'm out of working BBs. It takes 8 MONTHS to get all the BBs and CVs from this fight back 0 flt damage, then hidden and covered while they escape the combat area and back to Pearl avoiding subs and then to the West coast and then repaired. I get Essex and a few other fleet CVs and lots of little CVLs in the meantime, but this really put CV battles off the map for both of us. Next: Invasion Tarawa, leapfrog PNG, stolen Timor.
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