RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM

RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (Full Version)

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Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/12/2013 7:26:43 PM)
11 Feb 1944 It looks like Talaud-eilanden is next on his shopping list. Either by paras or FT I would guess. There is no garrison. No airfield suppression on Mindanao as yet, and no further Sweeps.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/13/2013 6:21:52 PM)
12 Feb 1944 A turn of nothingness. I have 5,404 ready aircraft. Only 36 are Nates.

Schlemiel -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/13/2013 6:26:48 PM)
Hmm... Nate, natal. It truly is "baby's first plane." :) It'll be interesting to see your opponent's reaction when he actually bumps up against "the hive." Even relatively thin opposition seems to have slowed his pace even further.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/13/2013 11:52:00 PM)
He has not really slowed down much. There is lots of hoovering up of by-passed bases going on while be builds Manado up. Meanwhile I am getting a bit concerned about the Great IJAAF Fighter Airgroup Resize of March 1944 which is only a few weeks away now. This will totally clear out my Reserve pilot pool, and apart from the Oscar units I don't really have the planes to fill out the units either. One obvious answer to this would be to convert some Fighter airgroups to Kamikaze, but I am really loath to do this. The IJAAF is my primary air superiority weapon. I guess I will just have to withdraw a few groups to rear areas for training.

obvert -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/14/2013 3:05:21 PM)
But you will be able to train more once you have the bigger sized groups also. You should be getting some later planes coming online soon, right? What IJAAF planes are arriving soon that will give your air production a boost when the RnD factories convert?

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/14/2013 3:18:24 PM)
The only plane of importance which is imminent is the Ki-44-IIc Tojo. All the sexy stuff is way off. Next turn might be fun, if the weather co-operates. 13th Feb was another day of not much happening.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/14/2013 5:51:39 PM)
Fortress Kiungshan Today Kiungshan reached size 7 forts, and also hosts over 600 planes for the first time (all Oscars). [image]local://upfiles/11369/99DABD1750ED45C98A5BFFEEAB6071E7.jpg[/image]

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/14/2013 5:55:19 PM)
Volunteers IJAAF Kami units training up at Clark Field. [image]local://upfiles/11369/D22D43E346824B4F9C0021420969D7B5.jpg[/image]

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/15/2013 8:08:41 PM)
14 Feb 1944 Two Kamikaze and one conventional Naval Attack on shipping at Manado. Reasonable results, but the weather in the afternoon was bad. I lost over 130 planes. The Nicks on escort were particularly badly hit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 133 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 39 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5 Zero x 82 B6N1 Jill x 12 P1Y1 Frances x 21 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk IV x 7 P-38H Lightning x 10 F4U-1 Corsair x 14 F6F-3 Hellcat x 6 Japanese aircraft losses A6M5 Zero: 5 destroyed B6N1 Jill: 8 destroyed P1Y1 Frances: 13 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-38H Lightning: 1 destroyed Allied Ships DD Radford DD Spence, Kamikaze hits 2, on fire, heavy damage DD Flusser DD Baldwin, Kamikaze hits 1 DD Walke, Kamikaze hits 2, on fire, heavy damage DD Harding DD Strong DD Thatcher DD Taylor Aircraft Attacking: 21 x P1Y1 Frances flying as kamikaze Kamikaze: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb 12 x B6N1 Jill flying as kamikaze * Kamikaze: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid detected at 118 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 34 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-21-Ic Sally x 12 Ki-21-IIa Sally x 12 Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 76 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk IV x 6 P-38H Lightning x 10 F4U-1 Corsair x 14 F6F-3 Hellcat x 6 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-21-Ic Sally: 6 destroyed Ki-21-IIa Sally: 7 destroyed Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed by flak Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 11 destroyed No Allied losses Allied Ships CA Quincy CL Mobile, Kamikaze hits 2 DD Selfridge CA Exeter DD Stevens DD Sigourney Aircraft Attacking: 12 x Ki-21-IIa Sally flying as kamikaze Kamikaze: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb 12 x Ki-21-Ic Sally flying as kamikaze Kamikaze: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid detected at 112 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 32 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 36 Ki-48-IIc Lily x 27 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk IV x 2 P-38H Lightning x 7 F4U-1 Corsair x 9 F6F-3 Hellcat x 6 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 3 destroyed Ki-48-IIc Lily: 1 damaged No Allied losses Allied Ships DD Baldwin, Bomb hits 1, on fire DD Radford DD Harding Aircraft Attacking: 8 x Ki-48-IIc Lily releasing from 1000' * Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb 15 x Ki-48-IIc Lily releasing from 2000' * Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb 4 x Ki-48-IIc Lily releasing from 3000' * Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/16/2013 12:41:03 AM)
Note to the above ... Stripping his destroyers away from other more important ships is probably my number one tactical goal, so despite the expense I am quite pleased with the results. We are going in again tomorrow, and then the day after we will send in the Fubukis for another go. Still no airfield suppression on Mindanao, which makes it all possible.

Cribtop -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/16/2013 5:54:08 AM)
There are never enough DDs in any Navy. Sounds like a good place to attack.

obvert -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/16/2013 7:14:14 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft Note to the above ... Stripping his destroyers away from other more important ships is probably my number one tactical goal, so despite the expense I am quite pleased with the results. We are going in again tomorrow, and then the day after we will send in the Fubukis for another go. Still no airfield suppression on Mindanao, which makes it all possible. Looks good. Like the kamis getting hits on DDs. Well done. The Mobile is hurting as well I'm sure.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/16/2013 10:35:37 PM)
15 Feb 1944 Nothing flew today. He still has ships at Manado but my search/recon did not spot them until well into the latter stages of the PM Air Phase. 4 destroyer TFs are going in overnight, each with 5 ships.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/17/2013 1:28:21 PM)
16 Feb 1944 Saigon falls. I managed to evacuate and the 3rd Air Division and 1st JAAF Base Force by sea just in the nick of time. [image]local://upfiles/11369/452E79221C6D4B968D233E5197F7E745.jpg[/image] The Fubukis did quite well at Manado. None were sunk and light damage was inflicted on a good number of enemy destroyers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Manado at 75,99, Range 12,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Usugumo, Shell hits 2, on fire DD Akebono DD Kikuzuki DD Myojinami DD Tadeyame, Shell hits 1 Allied Ships DD Trathen DD Case DD Shaw DD Cushing DD Perkins, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Smith Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 46% moonlight: 12,000 yards -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Manado at 75,99, Range 12,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Ikazuchi, Shell hits 1 DD Inazuma DD Ayanami, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Yugiri DD Oboro Allied Ships DD Radford DD Strong DD Taylor DD Thatcher DD Satterlee, Shell hits 1 DD Harding, Shell hits 1 DD Morris DD Patterson DD Flusser DD Edsall Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 46% moonlight: 12,000 yards -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Manado at 75,99, Range 12,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Fubuki DD Shirayuki DD Murakumo DD Yayoi DD Uzuki Allied Ships DD Trathen DD Case, Shell hits 1 DD Shaw DD Cushing DD Perkins, Shell hits 3, on fire DD Smith Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 46% moonlight: 12,000 yards -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Manado at 75,99, Range 12,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Minazuki DD Nagatsuki DD Suresushio DD Suruyame DD Yamanagiri, Shell hits 2, on fire Allied Ships DD Radford DD Strong DD Taylor, Shell hits 1 DD Thatcher, Shell hits 1 DD Satterlee DD Harding DD Morris DD Patterson DD Flusser DD Edsall, Shell hits 1 Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 46% moonlight: 12,000 yards

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/18/2013 8:53:07 PM)
19 Feb 1944 There have been more surface battles at Manado. I have lost two DDs to one of his with several damaged on both sides. Next turn I am going to try for a combined night naval bombardment and daytime Kamikaze operation. Let's see how much hurt I can put on a base using what are essentially just skirmishing forces. Japan now has 5,816 aircraft on the map.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/19/2013 3:32:02 PM)
20 Feb 1944 Not a bad result. We sank one DD, two SCs and two PTs in exchange for one DD which hit a mine. The bombardment damaged a lot of planes and a single kamikaze hit was achieved on CL Richmond. Most of the kami planes didn't fly for some reason. Over-stacked airfields perhaps? Once again losses among the escorting fighters were high. That is just the price you have to pay though. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Manado at 75,99, Range 2,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Shirayuki DD Murakumo, Shell hits 1 DD Yugiri DD Yayoi, Shell hits 1 DD Uzuki Allied Ships CL Richmond, Shell hits 2 DD Fullam, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk DD Heermann DD Hoel, Shell hits 2 DD McKee Reduced sighting due to 10% moonlight Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 10% moonlight: 2,000 yards -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Manado at 75,99, Range 7,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Shirayuki DD Murakumo, on fire DD Yugiri DD Yayoi DD Uzuki Allied Ships SC-639, Shell hits 1, and is sunk SC-641 SC-645, Shell hits 1, and is sunk SC-646, Shell hits 2, on fire Reduced sighting due to 10% moonlight Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 10% moonlight: 7,000 yards -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Manado at 75,99, Range 2,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Ikazuchi DD Inazuma DD Isonami DD Oboro DD Akebono Allied Ships PT-186 PT-187, Shell hits 2, and is sunk PT-188 PT-189 PT-190 PT-191, Shell hits 1, and is sunk Reduced sighting due to 10% moonlight Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 10% moonlight: 2,000 yards -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TF 117 encounters mine field at Manado (75,99) Japanese Ships DD Kikuzuki, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Naval bombardment of Manado at 75,99 - Coastal Guns Fire Back! Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses F6F-3 Hellcat: 11 damaged F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed on ground P-38H Lightning: 13 damaged P-38H Lightning: 1 destroyed on ground F4U-1 Corsair: 7 damaged F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed on ground F-5A Lightning: 11 damaged SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 damaged 9 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. Japanese Ships DD Suruyame DD Suresushio DD Nagatsuki Airbase hits 2 Airbase supply hits 1 Runway hits 27 DD Suruyame firing at Manado 54th Coastal Artillery Regiment firing at DD Suresushio DD Suresushio firing at 54th Coastal Artillery Regiment DD Nagatsuki firing at 54th Coastal Artillery Regiment 54th Coastal Artillery Regiment firing at DD Nagatsuki -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Manado at 75,99 Weather in hex: Heavy cloud Raid detected at 123 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 30 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 12 Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 122 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk IV x 4 P-38H Lightning x 5 F4U-1 Corsair x 18 F6F-3 Hellcat x 22 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 6 destroyed Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed by flak Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 3 destroyed No Allied losses Allied Ships CL Richmond, Kamikaze hits 1 Aircraft Attacking: 9 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar flying as kamikaze Kamikaze: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/19/2013 3:37:04 PM)
Damaged Allied Ships One thing to bear in mind is that all the Allied ships with non-trivial damage have to trek back to the Australian shipyards to get repaired. That is a long trip ... Therefore he really needs to take Soerabaja ASAP. I have a single quality division there with size 6 forts. This is nothing more than a road block but will require him to deploy serious assets to take it, which are thereby diverted away from the central thrust into the Philippines.

obvert -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/19/2013 4:56:19 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft Damaged Allied Ships One thing to bear in mind is that all the Allied ships with non-trivial damage have to trek back to the Australian shipyards to get repaired. That is a long trip ... Therefore he really needs to take Soerabaja ASAP. I have a single quality division there with size 6 forts. This is nothing more than a road block but will require him to deploy serious assets to take it, which are thereby diverted away from the central thrust into the Philippines. I know the Nicks have high durability which I assume is why you're using them as escorts, but this seems a high price to pay (two engines) when the same number of Oscars might do as well. The Nicks might get through better as kamis themselves, I would imagine, with that durability, also. Very interested as I could be making similar decisions soon if my game gets going again.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/19/2013 5:34:57 PM)
It's an airgroup thing. As I am keeping the 20 odd groups of the 1st Air Army together as a big stick to only be used in particular places this leaves the front line a bit short of fighter groups.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/20/2013 12:31:37 AM)
22 Feb 1944 Two more turns of not much happening. Except that today I lost 11 (count 'em) naval search planes to CAP, all in the DEI. That is not sustainable. Not really sure what to do about it though. Without eyes I am toast.

GreyJoy -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/20/2013 7:07:38 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft 22 Feb 1944 Two more turns of not much happening. Except that today I lost 11 (count 'em) naval search planes to CAP, all in the DEI. That is not sustainable. Not really sure what to do about it though. Without eyes I am toast. Pretty normal to lose those numbers of search planes at this stage. In Jan 44 i'm losing from 4 to 10 search planes every single day due to CAP. Nells, Emilies, Mavis, Jakes... they are all dead meat. Too slow... but,. as you say, you cannot efford not to have eyes on the enemy, so i think it's a price you have to accept

obvert -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/20/2013 7:19:39 AM)
Use more night search with only a smaller day search, maybe. I don't know, as I lose a lot regardless. The flip side is that he does as well once he gets close to any big base. In the Marianas he must have lost 15 one day just to DB/TB flying into CAP, and those are not search plane pilots, they are trained strike pilots.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/20/2013 4:33:59 PM)
I think what I will have to do is reduce the ranges a bit so as to only run search over the actual threat zones rather than as much ocean as possible. Or a radical solution would be to turn it off completely, in front line areas. After all, when he lands I always get to see it.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/21/2013 10:54:29 PM)
23 Feb 1944 He has landed a sizable force on Java, unopposed. Overnight skirmishing at Manado exchanges 3 Japanese DDs for CL Nashville, which succumbed to a Long Lance. Main engagement below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Manado at 75,99, Range 2,000 Yards Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses SOC-1 Seagull: 2 destroyed Japanese Ships DD Nagatsuki DD Suresushio DD Myojinami, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Suruyame DD Tadeyame, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage Allied Ships CL Nashville, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk CL Biloxi, Shell hits 3 DD Benham, Shell hits 1 DD Lang, Shell hits 3, on fire DD Stack, Shell hits 1 DD Sterett DD Cassin, Shell hits 5, heavy fires DD Clark, Shell hits 1, on fire Reduced sighting due to 0% moonlight Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 0% moonlight: 2,000 yards [image]local://upfiles/11369/5B04EBB2DEDF497C93491FD5181CF373.jpg[/image]

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/22/2013 12:43:02 AM)
Notes I now have 5,916 aircraft on the map. He will shortly be in convenient 4E range of Manila, from Indochina. Therefore it occurred to me that I ought to perhaps have some fighters on Luzon. That could have been an oops, there is oodles of shipping at Manila ... Four high-grade Frank groups have been moved over from Takao. Since he cannot Sweep I do not fear for their safety. In fact I would relish a visit by the bomber beasties.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/23/2013 12:23:45 AM)
24 Feb 1944 A Tonan whaler goes down on its way back from Ulithi to Hong Kong. SS Grampus delivers 3 fish and escapes with moderate damage. It's a good job I am not going to be moving fuel around for much longer. This is the fourth or fifth TK or AO I have lost this month to subs. Otherwise quiet. He has landed a huge amount of stuff on Java, which is nice ;-)

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/23/2013 10:52:33 PM)
25 Feb 1944 I have deployed my few Ki-67a Peggy bombers to Mindanao, where they delivered 12 aerial mines overnight at Ternate. Perhaps we can sink a PT boat or something. Production of these lovely planes has had to be stopped due to the lack of Nakajima Ha-45 engines, which problem is only slowly resolving itself. It surprises me that he has not used aerial mines himself. There are numerous important ports within 4E range now, and little risk to the bombers if they fly at night. I have lots of AMCs deployed in Local Minesweeping TFs but there are some gaps in the coverage.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/24/2013 3:08:40 PM)
26 Feb 1944 Not a good day for the Fubuki Squadron. Five DDs lost for a single American one. I suspect an overly aggressive commander was to blame, plus a few Dauntless dive bombers at Manado who tagged the only ship which escaped the surface battles. Nevertheless we are going in again tomorrow.

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/24/2013 4:23:48 PM)
Recent Ship Losses I am definitely losing this battle in terms of numbers. However I believe the side benefits outweigh this. The Mobile and Fletcher sinkings are doubtful, but the rest are certain. [image]local://upfiles/11369/CE8C62AD4F484BB18108E325B4DCDE4E.jpg[/image]

Captain Cruft -> RE: The Hive - Cruft PBEM (8/24/2013 4:27:03 PM)
Malaya Sitrep Georgetown will fall next turn. The only place which will hold him up is Singapore. No sign of any Allied shipping in the area, yet. [image]local://upfiles/11369/3BF4E6AB57A5419684B82765AB3273C4.jpg[/image]

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