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fcharton -> RE: Perfection, of a kind, spence (A) vs fcharton (J) (12/28/2013 2:17:46 PM)
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No plan ever survives contact with the enemy, as the saw goes. This is true for wine plans as well. And so, we had the champagne on Christmas eve, and switched to regular white on Christmas day: some low end chardonnay to go with the blackcurrant wine, then a Riesling with the salmon, and then St Estephe, the only part of the design which went as planned, with the lamb. I’m now on a diet until the end of next week, when I’m eating at my father in law, who wants to try some white from 1974 (we had a Sauternes of 1974 two years ago which was impressive), and I’m bringing a Chateau Giscours 2000 (that’s a Margaux, which should be quite impressive) to the party.
Meanwhile, we went on trading turns, here is a short summary.
March 1st 1943
We had a pretty good day in the air. Sweeps from Nabire shot down 13 F4F-4 over Dobo. Over Ambon, my opponent, elated by his recent ground bombing successes against Dili, sent his B24D1. My Tonies proved once more they are pretty good 4E killers, and six Liberators hit the dust. I am not sure why Tonies work so well, but they seem to do just fine.
Betties sortied from Sorong against ships in Dobo and Taberfane, but missed a transport and some sub chasers stationed there.
March 2nd 1943
With the recent upgrades, I am having quite a few type 2 DC armed ASW vessels. Coupled with trained ASW squadrons (only on ASW now, but I am now training those pilots on bombing), I am getting quite a few hits every day.
Yesterday, SS Growler took four hits in the Taiwan straits. Today SS Pike took seven near Borneo, and SS Haddo three in the Taiwan straits.
Dauntlesses from Taberfane sank a patrol boat resupplying Boela. With fighters based in Ambon and Sorong, I will soon be ready for a CAP trap in those areas.
March 3rd 1943
Albacores from Port Blair attacked an ASW task force, and sank one of my E class sub killers. I need to CAP those. In Burma, my front line troops in Chittagong are now in supply. Supply also seems to be moving north, for some reason. Akyab had 600 tons of supplies today, for the first time in the game.
Enemy ships were detected in Munda. I have a lone SNLF company there, but I will try to disrupt the landings. Two ASW task forces (three and four destroyers) were sent at flank speed on a suicide mission. KB is a few days behind.
March 4th 1943
As expected, the Allies landed in Munda. It began with a bombardment, featuring two New Mexico battleships.
Allied Ships
BB Mississippi
BB Idaho
CL Trenton
DD Preston
DD Fanning
DD Hammann
DD Gansevoort
DD Frazier
PG Soerabaja
AP George Clymer
Japanese ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Then, there were landings, with quite a few disablements. My opponent obviously doesn’t prep much.
Allied ground losses:
471 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 76 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 75 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 42 (0 destroyed, 42 disabled)
Vehicles lost 34 (0 destroyed, 34 disabled)
Then, my first DD squadron arrived, hit a few ships, but couldn’t stand against the enemy battleships.
Japanese Ships
DD Asashio, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
DD Minegumo, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
DD Katsutade, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
Allied Ships
BB Idaho, Shell hits 4
BB Mississippi, Shell hits 9
CL Trenton
DD Frazier
DD Gansevoort
DD Hughes, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
DD Hammann
DD Fanning
DD Preston
DD Downes
DE Edsall
DMS Southard, heavy damage
AM Skylark
AM Heed, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
AP Zeilin, Shell hits 1, on fire
AP Henry T. Allen
AP U.S. Grant
AP Henderson
AP President Hayes
AP Arthur Middleton, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AP George Clymer
AK Fomalhaut
AK Betelgeuse
AK Alchiba, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
PG Soerabaja
And then the second squadron joined the battle, and had more success
Japanese Ships
DD Takanami, Shell hits 39, and is sunk
DD Oshio, Shell hits 1
DD Asagumo, Shell hits 6, on fire
DD Yudachi, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
Allied Ships
BB Idaho, Shell hits 15, on fire
BB Mississippi, Shell hits 68, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Trenton, Shell hits 11
DD Frazier
DD Gansevoort
DD Hughes, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
DD Hammann
DD Fanning, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Preston
DD Downes, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DE Edsall
DMS Southard, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AM Skylark, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
AM Heed, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
AP Zeilin, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
AP Henry T. Allen, Shell hits 1, on fire
AP U.S. Grant, Shell hits 24, heavy fires, heavy damage
AP Henderson
AP President Hayes
AP Arthur Middleton, and is sunk
AP George Clymer, Shell hits 1
AK Fomalhaut
AK Betelgeuse, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Alchiba, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
PG Soerabaja, Shell hits 7
Carrier based bombers then sank two of my remaining destroyers, and I doubt the last one will survive.
I lost six out of seven destroyers in the battle. The Allies lost two destroyers (Hughes and Fanning), a troop transport Arthur Middleton) and a mine sweeper (AM Heed). But the Mississippi is probably a goner, as are AP Grant, and a pair of AK. I don’t know how damaged Trenton and Idaho can be. I would say 15 hits on a light cruiser is quite something, whereas a battleship shrugs off similar numbers. But anyway, I am happy with this kind of actions. As the war goes on, most of my ships will become targets, and I would rather have them take enemies with them.
Meanwhile, in Burma, my opponent decided to bombard Chittagong.
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 27414 troops, 591 guns, 657 vehicles, Assault Value = 1253
Defending force 68455 troops, 979 guns, 1607 vehicles, Assault Value = 2385
Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
177 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 18 (4 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)
I’m now out of supply again, but a dozen lost squads are always nice.
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