RE: Ship conversions (Full Version)

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FeurerKrieg -> RE: Ship conversions (8/15/2011 6:22:52 PM)

Pax -

I get the concept of sending ARs to the small forward bases. I think I'm inclined to make more of the AR's with the less valuable ships and just keep them parked at some of those forward bases. I may even move them around in conjunction with where my valuable ships are performing ops. I tend to play rather conservatively with my naval assets after summer 42, so if I stick to that plan, my torp magnets shouldn't be very far from the nearest AR.

Hey - getting the xAK's there is the point right? Warships are only there to ensure that economic and ground based missions succeed.



khyberbill -> RE: Ship conversions (8/16/2011 3:20:52 AM)

quote:

What ships does an Allied player wish he had more of? What bases would you hate to lose?

In the beginning it is too few DD's and all the ships are in the wrong parts of the world. Lack of fighter planes is a bigger concern though.

I think loss of bases is a personal preference. I hate losing Coco Is, Horn Is. Japan can take any base it wants in the first three months. After about 3 months, the Allies can start drawing the line, but not much can be done before that.




FeurerKrieg -> RE: Ship conversions (8/18/2011 5:06:39 AM)

Great info - khyberbill - I will be sure to keep that in mind.

Initial ship conversion plans:

23 Lima -> AKE
There are also 3 AGs that will go to AKE in late 42/early 43.
I could need about 10 more based on expansion, but I'll wait and see how the expansion goes before converting.
2 Lima -> AKV
5 Husimi -> AS
20 Husimi -> AR
5 Kyushu -> AR
10 Kyushu -> AV
50 To'su -> ACM
50 Kiso -> PB

Yusen N to xAK-t amount to be determined.

In 6/42 I'll start switching som e Std-C and Std-E over to TK.

Okay - got that sorted out. Now on to the resource convoys that are needed at game start.



khyberbill -> RE: Ship conversions (8/18/2011 8:32:32 PM)

As my game progresses with John3, I will let you know about how much I like or hate losing Kona and Hilo early. Right now the jury is out, out in left field in fact!



FeurerKrieg -> RE: Ship conversions (8/21/2011 7:12:38 AM)

Initial Resource and Oil convoys are planned. First wave war shipping will interfere a bit, but at least I know exactly what ships I want to send where as they get freed up.

I'll spare you the convoy spreadsheet, the end result is that 146 Aden class, 56 Gozan class and 58 Miyati class xAKs are earmarked to haul resources. 6 Type 1 TS tankers are also set for hauling oil.

These ships will cover the convoy routes from Hokkaido, Sakhalin, Amami Oshima, Naha and Korea/Manchukuo. I am going to wait for Hong Kong to fall before I figure out the Chinese and Taiwanese shipping and routes.

Up next I will probably actually start entering orders into the game (amazing!) and start setting all the troop convoys that need to load. First turn all convoys fully load, so you can bet I will be stuffing these ships 100% full. I took the time to make sure I am able to calculate how much space an LCU takes for combat loads, subtracting the troop capacity first, then multiplying the remaining load by 3 for cross load, then taking into account the ship will only load 80% of the cargo capacity due to combat load. I tested my math against a couple loads on a test turn run and it worked out perfect. Unfortunately the load screen doesn't tell the entire story when it says a convoy could use 'xx more ship capacity'.

In any case, it will be a bit until all these ships are properly loaded, test turns run to make sure they load properly, and TFs documented and organized. After that I'll probably work on pilot training setup and all the air units, in conjunction with warship orders. Then finally I will dive into the Chinese garrison mess.

Talk to you all soon!




PaxMondo -> RE: Ship conversions (8/21/2011 9:51:07 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Feurer Krieg

Then finally I will dive into the Chinese garrison mess.



I always dread this excersize with a new scenario. Be interesting to see how (if) this scenario impacts.



FeurerKrieg -> RE: Ship conversions (8/22/2011 4:36:05 AM)

From what I have read of the Babes threads, I don't expect any major deviations from stock scen 1, so I hope my spreadsheet from prior games will still be useful. But I do still need to go through it. Also, given lessons learned in my team game, I will need to decide on my China strategy early on which impacts the way I arrange the garrisons. Finally, I am going to be a bit more detailed his time around and make sure that I try to keep the lowest experience units on garrison duty.




FeurerKrieg -> Air training (9/15/2011 6:03:05 AM)

Hi all - quiet but not idle! Turn one orders are still moving along! Lots of orders entered, all combat troop load orders, troop convoy orders, convoy ship rearrangements as well as all Home Island LCU moves and HI & Manchuria air unit moves are done. Next I need to go through my Manchuria LCUs and then I'll move on to China. Then land units in Indochina and last but not least will be all the warship and combat air orders.

Here's today's Excel clip. Air training units. I've tried to maintain a ratio of about 2:1 of active to training airframes. I've pulled my training units first from Restricted units (why waste PP's?) but for the naval pilots I had to dip into a couple unrestricted units. I've also planned for some replacement units from the first 6 months to go into the program as well. I even need 331 Ku K-1 way out at 568 days out because I just don't have enough naval torpedo units to do enough training. I suppose a pilot who trains in a Betty or Nell will work just as well in a Kate or Jill though.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/Airtrainingunits.jpg[/image]



FeurerKrieg -> RE: Air training (10/14/2011 7:23:55 AM)

Turn 1 has FINALLY been sent off to my Allied opponent! I ended up with 313 task forces on this first turn. I'm sure I'll make some more on turn 2.

Banzai!



PaxMondo -> RE: Air training (10/14/2011 12:42:04 PM)

[sm=00000436.gif]



FeurerKrieg -> Dai Tung (10/28/2011 7:25:34 AM)

It was a cool morning in the Gulf of Siam on December 8th, 1941. Captain Boyd of the small steamer Dai Tung was making his way to Singapore. He had just relieved his first mate and to the east the black sky of night was giving way to the inevitable dawn of another day. Captain Boyd liked this run from Singapore to Bangkok and back again. He could get used to the two cities. At sea for less than a week each run and when his pay came in, he could even sometimes afford to get a room off the ship and maybe even some company for the evening. The Captain was a loner. The closest thing to parenting he knew was taking the teenagers that rode his ship and making sure they got the job done without dropping a cargo crate on a crew mate.

As he finished his checklist and looked out to the west to see if he could spot the Malaysian coast, he wondered if he should take a wife. The women in both his current ports of call were very pretty and many of them wanted to get out of the city. He could get an office job with the shipping company and live on the coast outside of one of the cities. He could... he could. But the water was a tempting mistress, and he had a hard time imagining more than a couple days away from the familiar roll of his ship's deck.

By this time tomorrow he might be in Singapore again. No, he wouldn't look for a wife - just some company for the night. He wouldn't get much of a break - ending a run on a Monday meant the dock would be working full speed. If he was lucky he'd at least get a full night to himself before the next load was on board and ready for Bangkok.

Suddenly a massive splash of water shook him from his reverie. Droplets of water and spray landed on his face. Confused, he looked around, grabbing a pair of binoculars from a nearby hanger. He scanned the horizon quickly and then he saw them. His lookout called out at the same time - "Ships, sir, uh, maybe 20,000 yards out! Did they just shoot at us?!"

As if in answer several shells whizzed past the small cargo ship and splashed into the water. Various colors of smoke rose from the water and Captain Boyd felt his stomach rise to his throat. "Abandon ship!!" he screamed - "Everyone off!!" The shells stopped for a moment, and Boyd thought, "Mercy please...a few more minutes" as he lowered a life boat into the water.

Confused as the situation was, it appeared most the of crew had made it off the ship. He could see the ships getting closer now. From 12,000 yards the Japanese fleet was an impressive sight. He had only seen such a gathering of ships like this in a port, never at sea and certainly not firing on him. Clearly their gunnery crews knew their business because the next volley (the third) put a massive shell into the Dai Tung, breaking the ship right in two, and then the shells stopped and the massive fleet came closer for a bit and then moved away to the south.

As Captain Boyd watched the two halves of his ship slip beneath the waves he decided it was definitely time to find a wife and get that desk job.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/harunaearly.jpg[/image]
View from the lifeboat



cantona2 -> RE: Dai Tung (10/28/2011 7:51:07 AM)

Great intro FK. Susbcribed but as an unashamed AFB [:'(]



FeurerKrieg -> RE: Dai Tung (10/28/2011 7:56:07 AM)

AFB, JFB - Readers are readers in my opinion, welcome aboard!



FeurerKrieg -> Malaya - Dec 7 1941 (10/29/2011 7:28:54 AM)

December 7th, 1941

At long last the Japanese Empire brings war upon the arrogant Western Allies who have sought to deny us our rightful place upon the world stage. US and British embargoes on oil will no longer be tolerated. Once we have seized the vital resources of the Dutch East Indies, we will be able to properly feed our Army on the mainland and attain victory over the Chinese. That goal accomplished, the US and British will no longer have a reason to fight and we will make peace and continue on as equal powers in the new world order.

Our first day of combat went very well overall. I'll split these updates into theaters and do my best to not delve into too much minutia.

Malaya
While en route to Sinkawang, the TF centered around Kongo and Haruna ran across the xAKL Dai Tung and wiped her out quickly. They then proceeded onto target without incident.

The day didn't go by without some more damaging speed-bumps, however, and one of those was the Dutch sub KXI putting a torpedo into the xAK Seizan Maru which was carrying troops bound for Kota Bharu. The ship didn't sink yet, but a gun and two engineering squads were lost.

The major concern of the day was where Force Z would end up. If the Allies just happened to sail to Sinkawang, there would have been a major shoot out between Kongo force and Force Z. As it happened though, Force Z stay off the coast of Mersing, which was what we had planned for. Our own Mersing invasion stayed off shore about 200 miles, while every Nell & Betty in Indochina searched from Saigon to Singapore for Force Z.

The first strike that found the enemy ships consisted of 26 Nells and 13 Bettys. Tired from flying search patterns since daybreak, only one of these pilots managed to put a torpedo into the Prince of Wales. 4 Nells and 1 Betty were lost to some rather intense AA fire.

Knowing now where Force Z was patrolling, the afternoon started with seven Oscars sweeping over Mersing. Although they only shot down one Buffalo, they did help keep those Buffalos off the soon to arrive Nells and Betties. The Nells and Betty came on in a constant stream and when they left, Prince of Wales and Repulse were both beneath the waves. In total, 54 Nells and 13 Bettys put 4 torpedoes into Prince of Wales, and 5 torpedoes into Repulse. 6 Nells were lost to AA fire, several more were damaged as well, but the major threat to the theater was neutralized, giving the green light to the Mersing invasion force to move in tomorrow.
[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/PoW12741.jpg[/image]
The heart of Force Z is taken out


On the peninsula it was mostly the JAAF that was doing the damage. First 21 Sallys hit the airfields at Alor Star, fighting through a couple of Blenheim IFs and five Buffalos. One Blenheim was hit on the ground. A second raid of 22 Sallys largely missed the airbase and only inflicted light damage. To help protect the upcoming landings in Mersing, Kuantan airbase was targeted by a well coordinated strike of 27 Sallys and 55 Lily, escorted by 31 Oscars (a & b models). The airbase was heavily damaged and a Hudson and Blenheim were destroyed on the ground.Light AA and no enemy CAP meant only one Sally took any damage in the attack on Kuantan.

Allied counterattacks were scattered and ineffective, although some hits were scored. There were four areas that the action was focused on in this theater.

Singkawang
One of the most vulnerable targets was the TFs invading Singkawang. With only AA for protection, the gods must have smiled upon us, because only two attacks came in this direction. First, five 139WH-3's attacked and all missed, but later five Swordfish came in and one bomb managed to hit the xAP Miike Maru, although the ship is still floating as of the end of the day.

Mersing Invasion TF
The most critical group was the Mersing force. The best air cover we could provide was a few A6M2's on a long range CAP. A total of four attacks were launched on this group. The first, 7 Buffalos and 3 Hudsons were destroyed or turned away by the seven A6M2 on CAP over the fleet. Next up came 9 Buffalos and 11 Vildebeests. With only 3 A6M2 on CAP now, all the enemy bombers got through and one managed to put a 500lb SAP bomb into the destroyer Murasame. The ship is damaged but should be able to make it back to Saigon. Two more strikes, 4 Wirraways and then 6 Blenheim IVs both had free runs, but thankfully missed all their targets.
[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/127411.jpg[/image]
Mersing TF dodges some bullets today


Kota Bharu
The primary dropoff for most of the troops heading to Singapore is at Kota Bharu so this site was important as well. Three attacks here faced only a couple Ki-27b Nates and mostly got past them with ease. First 6 Blenheim IVs and 1 Buffalo took a pass at CL Sendai but thankfully missed. Then 6 Vildebeest attacked and managed to hit one of our transports with a single bomb. Finally 7 Blenheim I's made a run at a pair of our destroyers but scored no hits.

Patani
Not a critical base, but two strikes of enemy planes (5 Blenheim IF w/1 Buffalo and a strike of 3 Hudsons) both encoutered 29 Nates who managed to turn the enemy planes back.

While all this air action was going on, our troops successfully stormed ashore at both Kota Bharu and Singkawang with very few casulties. Both bases are expected to be under our control by tomorrow.



PaxMondo -> RE: Malaya - Dec 7 1941 (10/29/2011 1:50:20 PM)

Great job on Force Z.  I know it is only 2 BB's, but it really helps free up your plans in the DEI.  You've only got the Houston and the Boise to worry about now.

Banzai!!



FeurerKrieg -> RE: Malaya - Dec 7 1941 (10/29/2011 11:19:57 PM)

Yes, I was very happy to see those two big ships go down. Boise and Houston are still out there, and the initial assault plans are expecting at least some landings to be disrupted by those two enemy ships, but hopefully we will will have enough carrier air and soon LBA as well to help neutralize the threat from those two.



FeurerKrieg -> Philippines - Dec 7 1941 (10/30/2011 7:56:59 AM)

The next primary area of action is the area between the Philippine Islands and Formosa. It is here that the Kido Butai would drop the hammer on the American submarine fleet, and prepare to support the rapid take over of the Southern Resource Area.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/canopus.gif[/image]
AS Canopus and nearby submarines at Manilla before the attack


Like the Dai Tung, the xAKL Dai Lee fell victim to a Japanese surface group. A TF centered around the light cruiser Natori, covering the Zamboanga invasion force, rapidly dispatched the small cargo ship and continued on its way to Zamboanga without encountering any additional enemy ships.

In the morning, Japanese planes from Taiwan spread across several enemy airbases.

At Iba, 16 A6M2 from the Kido Butai flew an early sweep to check the skies for defenders. There were none and soon after 18 Sallys and 27 Lilys arrived to hit the airbase. 3 P-40E Warhawks were destroyed on the ground and the airfield appeared to be moderately damaged.

A large strike was also launched against Clark airfield. The strike force of 27 Nells and 54 Bettys was escorted by 54 Zeros from Formosa. This time there was a token defense as 6 P-40B Warhawks took to the skies. Our Zeros made short work of the airborne Warhawks and the bombers did a massive amount of damage to the airfield. 3 More P-40B along with 3x B-17D, 2x O-47A and 2x P-35A were all destroyed on the ground. Not a single Japanese airplane was damaged in the strike.

Finally, also from Formosa, an early morning strike hit the airfields near Manilla. This strike was smaller, consisting of 9 Nells and 27 Bettys escorted by 36 Zeros. No defense was offered and the bombers hit the airfields hard and took out 3x PBY-4 Catalinas, 1x SOC-1 Seagull and 2x P-40E Warhawks on the ground.

The lack of defense was good news for the Kido Butai as their massive attack was inbound and soon arrived over the harbor. 52 A6M2, 117 B5N2 Kates and 126 D3A1 Vals descended from the skies to rain terror on the harbor and port areas of the city. By the time the day was over only one Val was damaged. The toll for the Americans was considerably worse. 11 Submarines were sunk, 6 more heavily damaged and 4 more hit by one or more bombs. An assortment of other ships were sunk or damaged to various degrees as well. The DD Pope was one of the sunken ships. The AS Canopus pictured above was hit also.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/cavite.jpg[/image]
Cavite shipyards after the attack


The KB will now sprint to the west to cover the Mersing landing, and then split - one part to cover landings at Batavia and Mersing, the other half will meet up with the light carriers escorting the invasion force to Ambon and will operate in that area to take Kendari, Timor and other important airbases in the eastern DEI.

On land, the invasions at Batan Island and Zamboanga went excellent and both bases are expected to fall tomorrow. Paratroops from Formosa dropped on Vigan and Aparri and secured both bases without issue.



FeurerKrieg -> Other areas - Dec 7 1941 (10/30/2011 8:05:34 AM)

The other actions of Dec 7, 1941 include:

Wake Island
27 Nells from Kwajelein bombed Wake island. The enemy fighter were able to partially get into the air and two of our Nells were shot down. The airfield was damaged and 2 F4F-3 Wildcats were destroyed on the ground.

Guam
Our troops encountered little resistance to their landing at Guam. The base is expected to fall tomorrow.

China
Mostly garrison related moves going on at the moment, but we did eject a Chinese Corp from Pengpu.



FeurerKrieg -> Day 2 (11/11/2011 4:45:57 PM)

Just a quick update. Day 2 results are in and it was a good day. The RAF and its pals in Malaysia got ripped up good while we took pretty light losses over all. Even our Nates managed to bring down a few. I think over 80 planes were shot down in the air, but don't quote me on that. And CL Dragon was put under (reportedly) by a 36cm shell, which is always fun to see.

In any case - things go well and I'll get the update posted in a few days after I've sent the turn back to my opponent.

Banzai!



FeurerKrieg -> Advice (11/18/2011 6:02:27 PM)

Hi all - its a lovely Friday morning here at work and I was looking for some tips from those who know the allies better than me.

I've tallied up the total amount of airframes that the British, Aussies and Dutch have in the Malaysia area (and Allied pools) so that I can subtract what we have killed in the first two days of the war and see what the maximum possible threat remaining to us is.

My question is what creative things can the Allies do, given PP restrictions, range, etc. to bring in reinforcement air groups from other nationalities into the Malaysia/Sumatra/Borneo area? I just don't want to get blind sided by a piled of B-17's or the AVG or something like that simply because I overlooked the possibility.

Turn is about 60% done, and I should finish it over the weekend - hopefully I'll have a Dec 8 report posted before the holiday!



PaxMondo -> RE: Advice (11/19/2011 10:20:23 AM)

I've certainly seen plenty of USAAF a/c in Burma, 4E, 2E, and fighters ....



FeurerKrieg -> RE: Advice (11/19/2011 4:40:22 PM)

Is there anything preventing the USAAF from moving down to Malaysia early on?



PaxMondo -> RE: Advice (11/19/2011 11:42:59 PM)

Nothing in game that I know of.  You wouldn't want to move any fighters though for the same reason you want to move (some of) the Singer fighters out early.  Once Pt Blair falls, very hard to get those units out.  All the early war fighters have short legs.  You can easily move Cats and 4E's there if you wish.



FeurerKrieg -> December 8th, 1941 (11/27/2011 7:52:02 AM)

December 8th, 1941

Malaysia
Throughout the night troops continued to unload at Khota Bharu with supporting fire from various light cruisers and destroyers, but no real resistance was encountered. The action was heavier near Mersing however.

At Mersing, as the invasion force closed on the coastline, a surface group led by heavy cruiser Chokai encountered three British destroyers and engaged in a running battle with many shots fired, but only one minor hit (on our DD Harusame). The British DD's managed to escape but CA Chokai and company had cleared the way for the transports which is all that matters. The cruisers also ran across a pair of minelayers and those were rapidly sunk.

Also in the nighttime, while running full speed from Singkawang to Mersing, the heavy surface group of Kongo and Haruna ran across CL Mauritius, DD Vendetta and DD Stronghold. This battle also saw many missed shots, but some large caliber shells were planted on Mauritius, likely sinking the cruiser. The DD's were both hit but it is hard to say how much they are damaged. On the IJN side, Haruna and CA Takao were both hit, but nothing managed to penetrate the heavy ships' armor.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/surface12841.jpg[/image]
Night battle near Mersing


Also leaving Singkawang, the damaged PB Fuji Maru #3 crossed paths with DD Electra and was mercilessly pounded under the waves. A pair of AK's left to unload were not bothered at all until daylight and managed to unload a great deal of their supplies.

In spite of all the activity in the area near Mersing, all the troop task forces managed to make it to the beach at Mersing and begin to unload with little trouble. Daylight would bring plenty of air attacks however.

Our fleet at Mersing was subjected to four morning strikes and three in the afternoon. The KB made a full speed sprint and was just at the edge of LRCAP range at morning. Our Navy pilots toughed it out for long range CAP over Mersing at this critical hour. The largest CAP at any time was only 14 A6M2 Zeros, but the crack navy pilots did an excellent job. In total, Mersing ships were attacked by 9x Blen IV, 30x Buffalos, 36x Vildebeest III, 5x Swordfish, 9x Hudson, 3x139WH-3, and 3x Wirraway. Some of these planes may have attacked twice as this total includes AM and PM strikes. 16x Vildebeest and 3x Hudsons made it through to attack, but none of our ships were hit.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/mersingdef1.jpg[/image]
Even one Zero can make a difference


Several air attacks were also launched against Khota Bharu, but our CAP was much better there consisting of 12x A6M2, 45x nate, and 8x Oscar(b). Again several raids came in but no enemy planes penetrated the CAP.

At Singkawang, the two 'sacrifice' AKs were attacked by 5x Swordfish and both ships were hit by 500lb bombs. One ship may make it home, the other will likely sink. This was not enough to stop our ground troops from taking the base however. Singkawang is now property of the Japanese empire as of Dec 8th, 1941.

Offensively, most IJA/IJN airpower hit Khota Bharu to ensure its capture. It fell and enemy troops retreated. Khota Bharu will rapidly be put to use as a forward airbase. To help keep the enemy from retreating in good order to Singapore, Sally's hit various locations on the peninsula to slow down enemy troop movements. No major CAP was encountered.

The cost to the enemy this day was grievous. Total enemy planes downed at Khota Bharu and Mersing total:
Vildebeest III: 24
Buffalo I: 22
Hudson I: 13
Blen I: 7
Blen IV: 4
139WH-3: 4
Wirraway: 3
Blen IF: 1
Swordfish I: 1

Our own losses were light - 18 planes total, and of those, 8 were floatplanes from the Kongo surface group downed by Singapore CAP.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/vildebeestiiii.jpg[/image]
The Vildebeest IIIs were savaged today


So it appears the enemy torpedo bomber threat is significant reduced which will help our thinly spread forces continue with their aggressive timetable.


Philippines
The evening was quite as our transports continued to close on Vigan. At Zamboanga, a pair of transports left to unload supplies managed to unload about half their cargo before being chased off by enemy surface ships.

Air attacks continued from Formosa. Today we hit Clark Field and Iba airfields, along with bombing enemy troops at Tuguegarao. Only a couple enemy planes were destroyed at Iba (1xP-35A, 1xO-47A). Our Bettys were damaged by some P-26A's on CAP at Clark. Runways were moderately damaged at both locations.

Zamboagna and Batan Island were both secured by ground forces. A couple shorter legged air units have flown into Batan Island to help support the assaults on Luzon.

Pacific
Troop ships arrived at Tarawa and unloaded without incident. Both Guam and Tarawa were secured easily. Base force support is already en route to Guam and should arrive within the next 2-3 days. Engineers are also en route to Tarawa, but coming from Samah means they are still several days out.

Wake was again attacked by our Nells, with one destroyed and two damaged by the defending F4F-3 Wildcats (only two airborne today). Our landing force continues to close on the island and we will hold our breath and hope the US carries are elsewhere. Tomorrow the Nells will aim for the ports, hopefully taking out enemy CD guns.

Submarines
I-166 fired and missed at an enemy destroy at Mersing. However, on the other side of the world, SS I-5 near Hawaii managed to put a torpedo into the xAK Cynthia Olson. Most of the submarines in the Hawaii area are heading back to Truk to be organized into large flotillas that will be deployed in support of specific areas of operation. Most likely the Pacific subs will flood the waters near Port Moresby, Rabaul and Horn Island until that area is firmly under our control. Most other subs are being sent throughout the DEI since that is where the current offensive focus is at.




PaxMondo -> RE: December 8th, 1941 (11/27/2011 12:15:29 PM)

Some good rolls there at Mersing, congrats!!!



Crackaces -> RE: December 8th, 1941 (11/27/2011 4:53:14 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Some good rolls there at Mersing, congrats!!!


I will follow this intently .. I like this idea of quickly seizing Mersing rather than the historical gathering of forces at Kota Bharu and a march southward. It will be intresting if the Brits try and interdict the beachhead or passively let these forces seige. One thing I see is by quickly cutting off Singapore one cannot stockpile supply by starving the rest of the world ... What a begining !!!



FeurerKrieg -> RE: December 8th, 1941 (11/27/2011 5:26:49 PM)

Thanks Pax, and welcome Crackaces. I am looking forward to seeing how things unfold as well - hopefully to my benefit!



FeurerKrieg -> December 9th, 1941 (12/10/2011 6:32:20 AM)

Holiday times not withstanding, I should be able to post a bit faster soon. Turn 4 is waiting for me to run it as TGW managed to turn it around in just two days! I guess the Allies have less to do early on...

December 9th, 1941

Malaysia
Not much action in the nighttime, other than DD Electra making a run into Mersing only to be caught by BB's Kongo and company. The destroyer is hit a few times and then retreats into the night.

During the day, various air attacks across the peninsula help to slow down any potential enemy movements. Little resistance is encountered which is a good thing since most of our attacks are not escorted. The fighters are needed for CAP duty over Mersing.

Our Sonias attack some ships fleeing to the Bay of Bengal, but no hits are scored. All of the enemy attacks are focused on Mersing, but all enemy planes are either destroyed or turned away by our CAP, now reinforced by Zeros and Oscars flying from Khota Bharu. The Shokaku and Zuikaku planes also do well as would be expected.

Losses over Mersing include:
12 Buffalo I
4 Blenheim IV
3 Swordfish
2 Blenheim IF
1 139WH-3

We lost 2 A6M2 Zeros in the fights with the enemy planes.

Interestingly, some Vals and Kates found the previously reported sunk BC Repulse still afloat near Tioman Island. Two more torpedoes from the Kates hit the ship and it was again reported sunk - hopefully for good this time.

Our troops unloaded yesterday easily secure the base at Mersing, forcing the 113th RAF Adv Base Force to retreat and destroying some AA guns. Our troops here will now move quickly to cut off the retreat path to Singapore while several more waves of units arrive to Mersing via transport over the next three days.

Philippines
Having finished the primary mission of covering the Zambo invasion force, CL Natori and company move into hunting mode, looking for ships fleeing Manilla and other Luzon area ports. They start the evening well, finding the xAP Candesa and sinking the ship with a torpedo hit.

Next, they encounter a more ****ly target - DD Peary and DD Pillsbury. After a shootout, both destroyers get away and DD Nagatsuki takes one hit (DD Peary also takes one).

When the sun comes up, Natori et al find a pair of xAKL's (Fortuna & Princess of Negros) and the group sinks both enemy ships. A few miles away they find the xAP Elcano and also sink that ship.
[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/surface12941natori.jpg[/image]
Natori catches some runners


A bit to the west of Natori's location, DD Peary & Pillsbury find our retiring Zambo invasion TF and cause a ruckus. Our mix of 1 DMS, 2 PBs, 1 AV and 1 xAK actually put up a pretty good fight and although all our ships take various hits, damage is relatively light. Pillsbury is hit but other than that our ships stay focused on getting away, which they do.
[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/surface12941AV.jpg[/image]
Our AV fights off a pair of DD's


A bit further north, DD Thracian finds our two 'sacrifice' xAKs that we expected to lose at Zambo. The destroyer has an easy time hitting the ships over and over again and eventually both are sunk.

At Vigan where the bulk of the north Luzon force is unloading, five PT Boats and later eight MTBs make runs in but are spotted easily by our cruisers and patrol boats and none of our ships are hit.

In the air, some Nells & Bettys attack the TK Gertrude Kellogg at Manilla, putting a torpedo into the tanker.

The southern half of the Luzon force is about two or three days out from landing.

South DEI
A bit of unexpected action near the tip of New Guinea today. As our Ambon invasion force nears its target we were attacked by 2 Do-24K-1 bombers. Our eleven A5M4 Claudes managed to destroy both enemy planes. Then later, a half a dozen F1M2 Petes from the invasion force found the PC Zeeman and put two small bombs onto the ship starting it on fire. We probably have two more days before this force puts ashore at Ambon, so we will hope that we can avoid any major mishaps for just a little longer.
[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/air12941sorong.jpg[/image]
Early war technology in action near Sorong


Pacific
All quiet here as the Wake invasion moves into position. Tomorrow our light cruisers and destroyers will bombard from what we estimate to be just outside of the enemy CD guns range. Then our two units will storm ashore and hopefully capture the base. We have a few subs to the east of the island and so far there is no sign of the enemy carriers - but they could easily show up tomorrow. Fingers are crossed...

Subs
There are some various missed shots and such for both sides. I will generally not mention all of those, instead focusing on encounters that are significant or involve hits on one side or the other.




FeurerKrieg -> December 10th, 1941 - US Carriers spotted (12/14/2011 7:24:44 AM)

December 10, 1941
US Carriers are in action today, but overall it is a good day for the Empire.

Malaya & DEI
Not a ton of action here today. BB Kongo and company move to defend Sinkawang while our Air HQ unloads allowing Nells to carry torpedoes and Zero's to provide CAP when our troops move on to Billiton. Once the HQ is unloaded, those transports will load some assault troops and head on to Billiton. Construction crews are already en route from Samah and should arrive within the week.

On the peninsula, Sallys, Lilys and Nells attack several different locations to keep the Allied forces from moving around much. Our armor recon reaches the base west of Mersing, but will wait until our infantry arrives tomorrow to attack.

As our transports withdraw from Mersing, the only enemy air attacks come at Khota Bharu where other transports continue to unload. Our planes fight off the attacks with little problem.

The KB off of Sinkawang manages to find 4 tankers and an AVP, sinking them all. One of the tankers is the 8200 ton Dutch TK Merula. The Army gets in on the action as well, hitting an AMC that was moving up the channel towards the Bay of Bengal, although the ship is not reported sunk.
[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/KB121041.jpg[/image]

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/malaya121041.jpg[/image]
Navy and army both get some hits in today


Our troops unload at Miri and should take that base tomorrow. Additionally, the Kuching invasion force is just offshore and will unload tomorrow.

Near Ambon, our forces should hit the beach tonight. So far so good, but Houston and Boise are still out there. Our cover forces include two Myoko class heavy cruisers, but they will have a tough time if the US cruisers show up.

Philippines
Similar to yesterday, our TF's disgorge many troops at Vigan. Enemy PT boats and MTBs attempt to get some hits but they are chased off by the screening forces we have present. Enough intact units are now unloaded that several start the march south. The airborne SNLF troops from the Vigan drop have marched north to Laoag (sp) and will take that base tomorrow.

West of the Luzon, CL Natori et al continues to hunt. They find a nice TF of an AS, AM and xAK, but it escapes before they can bring it under the guns. Later though, the US tanker Mindanao is found and sunk after 28 hits.
[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/surface121041natori.jpg[/image]
Natori finds another victim


The Allied DD Thracian again finds our AV based TF, but after a few shots it is apparent the enemy destroy is out of ammo. Our ships get away. Natori then finds Thracian, but after several rounds of gun fire the enemy destroyer gets away.

The south Luzon force will hit the beaches tonight at Atimonan.

Pacific
Our Wake invasion reaches the atoll, accompanied by light cruiser bombardments and begins to unload without too much damage from the CD guns. Our nail biting comes to an end when the sun comes up and the US carriers are spotted near Tarawa. Our troops continue to unload at Wake, and capture the base with 5 to 1 odds. The damaged ships will head back to the Home Islands for repairs, while the Maizuru 2nd SNLF loads up to head south.
[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/wake121041.jpg[/image]
Wake captured!


At Tarawa, two small xAKs left behind to unload supplies are easily sunk by the enemy carriers. Thankfully the carriers were not any farther north or they may have attacked our transports at Jaluit which had just loaded the troops there to head to Nauru and Ocean Islands. It goes without saying it is good they were not sitting near Wake where we have several cruisers and two LCUs that would have been sent to the bottom. The Jaluit tranports will head toward Kwajelein and the limited air cover we have there. Hopefully the enemy carriers will depart rather than risk getting hit by a lucky Nell.
[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/USCV121041Tarawa.jpg[/image]
US Carriers attack at Tarawa


Zuiho, a CVE and CS all depart Hiroshima today after getting their planes upgraded to Zeros, Kates and Jakes. They will head to Truk and combine with the CVL and CVE currently covering Ambon as well as the two CVs that have been peeled off from KB. Together all six ships will provide air cover for the Rabaul invasion, unless of course we have solid evidence that the US carriers are elsewhere, which will allow us to attack Rabaul that much earlier.

Submarines
Near Malaya it seems we damage the Dutch sub KXVII by depth charge and near Formosa, a Lily hits the SS Pike.

Our sub I-157 managed to put a torpedo into the xAK Erinpura in the channel west of Singapore. The ship is reported sunk.

All subs in the Pacific will refuel at Truk and start to blanket the areas around the Solomons, New Britain and Port Moresby in preparation for the invasion of Rabaul and the hopefully rapid continuation on to Port Moresby.







FeurerKrieg -> December 11th, 1941 - Landing at Ambon (12/27/2011 7:02:44 AM)

December 11, 1941

Malaya & DEI
Three Blenheim IF's make a night time run against Kota Bharu doing very minor damage to the facilities there.

At Ambon, our TF's close with the shoreline and unload while the larger ships duel with the 150mm guns hidden on the shoreline. DD Shiokaze and xAK Myoko Maru both take penetrating hits, but damage control prevents any disasters. Most of the troops put ashore with little loss throughout the night and next day. We are still awaiting the arrival of an assault engineer unit (tomorrow) and another Nav Gd unit (approx 3 days) but we will go ahead and attempt an attack. It is probably 50/50 whether it will succeed as our troops are still fairly disrupted from the long time at sea (~20 dis), but if they fail they can rest while the other Nav Gd unit arrives. Supply is fine as the LCUs are holding about 10,000 on the beach. An Air HQ will be arriving in 2 or 3 days as well, and Nells and Zeros are resting at Babelboab ready to jump in as soon as the base is taken.

During the daytime, the unloading task forces were attacked by 139WH-3 bombers escorted by B-339D. Our Claudes downed a fighter and a bomber and chased off the rest. With the troops from Chitose and Mizuho unloaded, the CSs will split off and form up with the CVL and CVE already providing air cover so their Jakes and Petes can augment any airstrikes that are launched against enemy ships in the area.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121141-ambonnavair.jpg[/image]
Claudes are just enough defense - for now


At Kuching our troops also arrive and unload under some enemy CD guns, but no significant hits are taken. A 7.7 AAMG is lost during unloading, along with the expected amount of troops, but again our units are fully unloaded and in good shape. There are defenders at the base, but we expect to evict them tomorrow.

As expected, our troops at Miri (I/124th Bn) successfully clear out the defenders, forcing them to flee to Brunei. Our assault troops will now load up to sail to Brunei and capture that base as well, then they will combine with the Kuching forces (II and III units of the 124th Battalion) to assault Tarakan and reform the 124th Battalion there.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121141-miri.jpg[/image]
Miri taken easily


East of Borneo, Car Div 2 and the rest of the Celebes invasion forces continue sailing southeast with no interference thus far. They are now near Jolo Island.

During the day, Oscar, Zeros and Nells fly over Singapore. The Zeros and Oscars shoot down a couple Buffalos and the Nells take some shots at some HDMLs in the harbor. None of the ships are hit, and one Oscar(a) is lost.

Across the peninsula, various ground attacks are continued to keep the defenders moving slow. At Kuantan, a Blenheim I is destroyed on the ground. Our infantry arrives at Kluong and with the Armor present will attack the base tomorrow, thus cutting the rail connection to Singapore. Also tomorrow, the next wave of infantry is due to arrive at Mersing. Our covering cruisers are a day behind due to refueling and rearming in Saigon so fingers are crossed that no enemy surface forces show up at Mersing tomorrow. Zeros and Oscars from Kota Bharu will fly LRCAP to cover the air threat.

Philippines
The MTB's and PT Boats again attempt to reach our unloading ships. Tonight with 46% moonlight, the MTBs succeed and MTB 12 manages to put a torpedo into DMS W-17 which does its job screening the more valuable transports. The DMS is sunk quickly, but the other ships in the screen take out 3 MTB before the little boats get away.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121141-vigannaval.jpg[/image]
Pesky MTBs get a hit

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121141-MTB12.jpg[/image]
The lucky enemy ship


Five PT Boats trying the same are caught by CA Maya and company, and two of the five PTs are sunk and the others chased off before they can deliver their torpedoes.

Through the night and the following day lots of Japanese troops unload from their transports at Atimonan. No enemy ships or planes interfere and nearly all the units are fully unloaded and in organized condition by the afternoon of the 11th. The base appears undefended so it should be fully secured tomorrow.

During the day, air attacks on Vigan include 3 Catalinas escorted by 8 P-26As. Twenty-nine A6M2 are on hand to provide CAP and easy chase off the defenders shooting down a Catalina and three P-26A. A later attack by 11 unescorted B-17Ds was also met with A6M2 resistance. One B-17 was downed quickly, the other ten were all damaged and several did not make it back to base on their return flight.

[image]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj283/bfeurer/121141-b17d.jpg[/image]
A Fortress goes down


The paratroops from Vigan today secured the base at Laoag with no difficulty. They will head back to Vigan and likely load up and head to Bangkok to take part in the Burma offensive when it begins.


Pacific
Our loaded troops from Jaluit sail to Kwajelein and although they are overflown by US carrier based aircraft, no attacks materialize. Although the Claudes are not the best CAP they are better than nothing, so the ships will remain there tomorrow. The troops will unload at Kwajelein just to play it safe, and the light cruisers returning from Wake are being redirected to Truk in case the US CVs hang around. They are currently between Kwajelein and Jaluit. Our Nells did not launch today either.

China
The first major assault against Hong Kong is launched today and does fairly well. The DA gets 1 to 1 odds and forts are dropped from 3 to 2. 865 vs 703 casualties. DA again tomorrow.

A couple other attacks are successful in pushing the Chinese back along various roads in the north as we try to tidy up our front lines.

Submarines
I-155, while passing near Merak to start a patrol at a likely exit point of the DEI, strikes two enemy mines and sinks. The sub is our first submarine casualty of the war. Two other subs run the gauntlet are are now in position to stalk any ships that leave between Sumatra and Java.




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