Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (Full Version)

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Mundy -> Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/1/2017 12:05:12 AM)

Greetings,

I will not lose my carriers...
I will not lose my carriers...
I will not lose my carriers...

I'm about to kick off a new second game, since my misery in the DEI ended.

We're pretty much playtesting LST's Bottleneck in the Pacific mod. I thought I'd have to help SJ get set up with this, but it looks like he's got everything installed okay. I've been drawn to these experimental scenarios designed to slow the game down a bit. The Big B mod was another one I was looking at until this challenge came in.

Steve and I have been trading emails and getting to know each other a bit, which is nice. I like a more personal touch in these matches. I've grown closer to KenchiSulla also when our game was running and it's nice feeling like I'm playing another human being rather then sending a turn into the void.

It may be a couple days until Dec 7 formally kicks off. Dec 8 is always my long turn to finish. Made worse in this case, as every ship on the map has damage on it. Every micro-port on the map also has those little 8 kt sailing xAKL, which I have to gather up. Glorified barges...

I won't say much about strategy yet, in case he wants to say "hi" here first. I think he said he'll have his own AAR going, if you want to follow that end.




Lowpe -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/1/2017 3:29:54 PM)

Save those civilians! [:)]



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/1/2017 7:37:04 PM)

Yeah, if I don't, LST will show up and chew me out.

[:)]



SierraJuliet -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/1/2017 8:39:07 PM)

Dropping in to say Gidday before I take me sword and slink out of here. So pleased that Ed is taking me on. Turns out we have already discovered some life similarities.

So to interesting times then Ed and have fun thinking up devious strategies.



obvert -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/2/2017 6:35:01 AM)

Nice to see another game going for you. Look forward to it!

(If you lose your carriers, just make sure you take his out too!) [;)]



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/2/2017 6:26:18 PM)

Awright... down to business.

I'll have to decide how I want to start things here.

First question is Rabaul. I've toyed with the idea before of trying to pack that base with troops before the Japanese arrive. The problem is that it would take awhile, and I don't know how quickly SJ is going to move this way. Also unhelpful is that I've got zero PPs in the bank at the start. Australian coast defense units cost about 360 to free up. I do have more units in Australia proper, but many of them are perma-restricted. Probably national guard equivalents. If he takes at least a month to arrive, I could probably pack that base good. The "bird" units at Darwin which join the one in Rabaul are already free to go. The HQ OOB is a bit expanded in this scenario. There's even a "Dugout Doug" command.

Even if he wanted to, a Manila first plan wouldn't work here, as all the subs there are already formed into TFs, sitting in the harbor. Pretty much everything in the Philippines is perma-restricted. Even the Marines, which I was hoping to evacuate. At Bataan, is Station CAST, composed of 3 support units and 3 "Codebreaker" units. They're ready to go, so I guess LST intends for them to get evacuated out.

I'm thinking of sending my two USN carriers down around the south side of Australia to Perth. Maybe from there hang out 10 hexes or so south of Java, in case he decides to skimp on naval airpower in the DEI. I will absolutely not be reckless with these ships, as I tended to be in the past. If Ryujo shows up alone, I will pounce on her. Otherwise, I'll back off.

Land based air is a bit crimped here. Many of the base units are Very short on airplane support units. Keeping everything flying at a base will be a challenge at the start, at least.

One perk is that any LCU showing up in the Eastern US is already loaded on the train and headed to San Francisco. I normally run all my stuff from the states out of that port. That or LA, but since everything's routed there anyway, I'll stick with that base. In this mod, I think all supply is only produced from Light Industry. Most of said Light Industry in the states starts as broken, so I won't have a lot to ship from there right away. From prior experience, it's mostly recovered within a month or so. Being how supply is generated, I may have to deal more with shipping resources around to the factories.

Pretty much every ship in the game starts with some kind of damage on it. I tend to be the type who likes to send "clean" ships out, so I may be delayed moving some stuff. Australia and the DEI are an exception, as I got to get all the scattered civilians picked up and stocked somewhere. I'm tempted to put every last one of them in Port Moresby to create a massive stonewall, but I think I'll be more sporting than that. I'll probably ship everyone off to Australia proper. Were he to invade (not a good idea here) they would beef up the coastal defenses. As mentioned, there are more troops in Australia than stock, so it would be a rougher slog through there. That plus the slower pace of the game would let me build up more.

At Singapore, I'll try to pull out the Australians and anyone else that will fit on a boat. The Aussies will head home. Not sure about the rest. The DEI scenario I played against Zulu before was giving me ideas about a real defense there. I'm also keen on beefing up the forces at Rangoon and Moulmein to thwart any move towards India.

I don't think he'll be plucking lots of units from China here, as there is a much bigger garrison requirement here, with the millions of dot bases in this country. I don't see any blitzkriegs happening there.

In my last try at Bottleneck, the game hadn't really gotten past Rabaul and the DEI yet, so I really don't know how far the Japanese can push things past these boundaries.

No ideal yet where the US stuff will eventually get shipped. I favor a WPO plan across the central Pacific and I don't know if I'll have to deal with a slog through the Solomons yet. I may ship a corps worth of troops to New Zealand and move from there. Lots of PPs to grow before that happens.

I'm taking the time to read SJ's last AAR, so I can get a feel of his play.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/2/2017 9:33:31 PM)

Hashing out our house rules.

Some oddities:

The Burma-Siam railroad is depicted, but before it can be used, a level 1 port needs to be built on each hex it crosses, by house rule.

Other than that, we're pretty much in synch. I tend to run with less, without needing to abuse the game.



LargeSlowTarget -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/2/2017 9:46:55 PM)

Happy to see you have found an opponent for another go. I'll follow both AARs and will chime in with explanations on mod features.

In order to make a Sir Robin type "defense" with large-scale evacuations of combat units and/or the evacuation of "cadres" for rebuilding units on the cheap less attractive, most units in the PI and DEI and many in Malaya are permanent restricted. Evacuation without a fight wasn't an option IRL.

However, some units are intended to be evacuated: The civilians of course, Station CAST (you don't want to let those codebreakers fall into the hands of the enemy, do you?), soon you'll see the PI government-in-exile (represented by the "President Quezon" unit) and US armed forces female personnel - you can imagine what the Japanese will do to those poor nurses, so get them out! Dugout Doug as a separate units is intended for evacuation. He is in fact a sub-unit of the SWPac HQ that shows up later in Australia, so in order to "reunite" him with the parent unit, you must get him out. Hint - PTs can convert to a "ML" type with minimum troop capacity and ability to integrate transport mission types.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/3/2017 3:03:44 PM)

Glad to see you drop by.

I figured those units were meant for evacuation. They'll go pretty quick.

I see the PTs only take 2 days to convert to MLs. I may go that route, as I know they'll probably be left unmolested by aircraft. I'll have to really hopscotch my way out of their with their 12 hex range.

I always try to save Langley.



Lowpe -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/3/2017 4:42:16 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: LargeSlowTarget

Happy to see you have found an opponent for another go. I'll follow both AARs and will chime in with explanations on mod features.

In order to make a Sir Robin type "defense" with large-scale evacuations of combat units and/or the evacuation of "cadres" for rebuilding units on the cheap less attractive, most units in the PI and DEI and many in Malaya are permanent restricted. Evacuation without a fight wasn't an option IRL.

However, some units are intended to be evacuated: The civilians of course, Station CAST (you don't want to let those codebreakers fall into the hands of the enemy, do you?), soon you'll see the PI government-in-exile (represented by the "President Quezon" unit) and US armed forces female personnel - you can imagine what the Japanese will do to those poor nurses, so get them out! Dugout Doug as a separate units is intended for evacuation. He is in fact a sub-unit of the SWPac HQ that shows up later in Australia, so in order to "reunite" him with the parent unit, you must get him out. Hint - PTs can convert to a "ML" type with minimum troop capacity and ability to integrate transport mission types.


Bravo![&o]



LargeSlowTarget -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/4/2017 8:21:22 AM)

Got a question from my opponent Ed which might be of general interest - is there some benefit or penalty for not getting units like the civilians, Station CAST etc. out?

Well, they are "chrome" for role-playing purposes. There is no SIGINT benefit from Station CAST that will be lost when that unit gets destroyed/ captured, and Dugout Doug will still receive the $500,000 from President Quezon of the Philippines as payment for his pre-war service even if neither of them is being evacuated.

However, there is of course the small VP gain for Japan when destroying those units. So if you are not into role-playing, then denying those VPs to Japan may still be attractive. Furthermore, it will tie-down some assets which cannot be used otherwise and put them in harm's way. A PBY that is evacuating people from the PI cannot be used for popular (but unrealistic and unhistorical) daylight torpedo attacks against Japanese invasion convoys. Choices...

Originally, I wanted to make that VP gain pretty heavy (in order to 'motivate' the Allied player to evacuate) by adding lots of "civilian" devices, but each device requires a support squad and since each non-combat squad device adds 1/10 AV for the defense, the large "civilian" and non-combat units became quite resilient in combat - so I had to nerf them in 1.1.

There are ample means to evacuate these units without too much risk. There are many small and expendable xAP and xAK types, various warships classes which normally cannot participate in transport missions do have conversion options to make them emergency transports (like PT to ML), there are submarines, transport planes, and the good old Catalina which can evacuate personnel.

Speaking of the Cat, I have read an amusing story about such an evacuation run from the PI. A PBY which was scheduled to evacuate nurses from the PI suffered some damage from a strafing Zero, and water entered through the hole ripped into the lower hull by a 20 mm shell. Being under attack, they were in a hurry to leave and had no time for repairs, so with true American ingenuity, the crew asked the plumpest nurse to sit down on the hole, sealing it well enough for the take-off run [:D]



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/9/2017 3:21:37 PM)

Dec 7 1941

Off we go...

I was temped to get everyone moving, but I kept my orders to a minimum this turn. Dec 8 is usually when I go top to bottom through everything.

Our pwhexe files are starting off out of synch, so I'm having to work with him to get these aligned. Tracker's acting up this turn too, and I'm hoping it will clear on the next.

I did get all the Manila subs sortied. Most of the longer ranged ones will return to Midway, as it's a favorite sub base for me. I still have to get it set up. That may wait a couple days, depending on what KB does.

Since every ship in the game is broken, I'll probably get most of them fixed before using them. Since supply starts off slow in the states, this really wont inconvenience me much. I'm getting all sorts of ships gathered at San Francisco. I'll take care of convoys for now, as I have no idea how Steve will run his subs. I'm assuming he'll guard the west coast until further notice.

In China, I'm trying to get large mobs formed. Everyone's scattered everywhere there.

My two carriers at sea are headed to Sydney. Sara is at San Diego, headed to Pearl. York will be a while and Hornet is some months away. Hopefully I can keep all six handy. Seeing how things play out and where KB is at the moment, I'm thinking about grabbing the Marshalls early. I have lots of PPs to spend before I reach that point, though. As mentioned, there is zero in the bank at the start, so I couldn't replace sub captains right away.



tocaff -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/10/2017 2:40:55 PM)

I want to tell you that you've latched onto a great opponent who is reliable, steady, doesn't quit and is a heck of a guy. I'll be visiting both of your AARs so I won't be making any comments about the game. Good luck.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/10/2017 3:25:03 PM)

Thanks Tocaff. I already like Steve a lot. He's making an effort to get to know me and I'm already feeling like he's an old friend. I'll be having fun with this one.

Just got the Dec 8 turn. I think our map file issues are gone.

This will take all day to get through. I do have lots of xAPs out from Australia to pick up all the stray civilians. I still haven't decided whether to evacuate Rabaul or pack it with troops.

One thing I noticed, I was at zero PPs yesterday and am at 100 now. 100 a day would end up being nice.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/15/2017 1:19:16 AM)

12 December 1942

Lots of pain getting things moving. I've mostly been focusing on getting ship repaired. Langley just departed Manila, bound for Soerabaja. I always strive to save her.

My B-17s on Mindanao have relocated to Rangoon. Minor success with a raid. PBYs from Luzon also relocated there.

quote:

Morning Air attack on Prachuap Khiri Khan , at 54,64

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 2

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
ML RTN Travane Vari, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B-17D Fortress bombing from 9000 feet *
Port Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb


On Malaya, Steve hasn't landed any further south than Kuantan. Nobody in contact there yet. Repulse and Prince of Wales are at Soerabaja, getting fixed up with the rest of the Dutch navy. Per my usual plan, I'll probably get them parked at Madjene with a sizable force to pounce on whatever lands at Balikpapan. A number of minelayers are making a run to Tarakan. I believe this mod has boosted mine production, so I can have more fun with those. The 100 PPs a day is nice, too.

KB sank an AK heading to Pearl from Midway. Should have waited. I wasn't sure what would happen with them if they would attempt another strike at Pearl or not. Doesn't look like it. My two carriers are still headed to Sydney. I'll heal them up and then park them 6-8 hexes south of Java and see what comes. I'm on a hair trigger to get them away from any real danger.

I made an ASW group at Pearl to deal with the subs he still has lurking there. It includes Allen, the ancient Sampson class DD. Any of the good RN carriers that show will get routed to Pearl as well as their battleships. Maybe I can pull off taking the Marshalls early. If so, it will make a great sub base to work out of.

transports are working around the northern Solomons, picking up civilians and stray troops. At Moresby, I'm blessed with about half a dozen air transport units. A combination of Rapides and Ju-52s.

The Thai Air Force has been harassing my troops with their old Vought Corsair biplane bombers.

Colorado and Warspite are in worse starting shape than in stock, needing at least a month to a month and a half of work.

Lots of neat stuff to play with.



LargeSlowTarget -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/15/2017 7:31:54 AM)

The Ju-52s and Rapides of the Guinea Airways stand-in for the Junkers G31, the Ford TriMotor and various other types flown there IRL. I'm not gifted enough to create aircraft art, so I simply took what looks alike.

I need to nerf the damage to Warspite, she re-commissioned after completing repairs on Dec 28, 1941.

OTOH, Colorado needs damaged added, she finished refit end of March, 1942.



BBfanboy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/15/2017 1:56:32 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Mundy

12 December 1942

KB sank an AK heading to Pearl from Midway. Should have waited. I wasn't sure what would happen with them if they would attempt another strike at Pearl or not. Doesn't look like it.


IMO the only "safe" vector out of Midway (bar subs or the DD TF that bombards Midway on Turn 1 in stock) is NE to Seattle or even Prince Rupert, or North to the Aleutians as a temporary refuge.



BBfanboy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/15/2017 1:59:16 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: LargeSlowTarget

The Ju-52s and Rapides of the Guinea Airways stand-in for the Junkers G31, the Ford TriMotor and various other types flown there IRL. I'm not gifted enough to create aircraft art, so I simply took what looks alike.

I need to nerf the damage to Warspite, she re-commissioned after completing repairs on Dec 28, 1941.

OTOH, Colorado needs damaged added, she finished refit end of March, 1942.

In stock Colorado repairs on Jan. 1/42 but then immediately can go into a lengthy refit - a month or six weeks IIRC. That puts it pretty close to March. So if your mod has the same refit pending, the damage added should just be enough to add to the refit and get to the end of March.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/17/2017 4:53:06 PM)

13 Dec 1941

Guam and Victoria point both fall. On Malaya, he's still hanging out near the Kota Bharu area.

On Luzon, MacArthur and noncombatants are shipping out. I've converted the PTs to troop capable MLs. Putting them in the shipyard makes this a one day affair.

More DDs are freeing up at Pearl, so more ASW groups are going out. At San Francisco, a bunch of Clemson and Wickes DDs are converting to APDs. 5, I think. Once the subs let up at Pearl, I'll do conversions there also.

The ARD Dewey left Manila. Hopefully, she gets to Soerabaja. A 20,000 ton dock would be nice to have.

More xAKLs are sprouting up all over. The ones near Australia are headed to Townsville. Ships from there are heading to the Solomons to grab civvies.

PoW and others left Soerabaja to rendezvous with Langley as an escort. An IJN cruiser force is prowling the east side of the islands attacking lone transports. Maybe I can deal a blow. Houston

and Boise are with her. The latter can dish it out.

I've been withdrawing all of the short range air in the Philippines. Yeah, I could hopscotch them south, but I have need for those PPs yet. Plus they'll get withdrawn in a few months for the most part anyway. B-17s and PBYs all are out. I'm saving up PPs to get the Australians out of Singapore. I'll need at least two days to get the first one out. Hopefully, I'll have enough saved up again by the time the second unit treks its way there. Anyone else I'm able to buy out of there will wind up in Burma, most likely.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/20/2017 10:33:25 PM)

16 Dec 1941

War's going on fairly quietly for now. Nobody's bombed Singapore or Manila/Clark yet. The entire IJAAF in Malaya is bombing a Burmese unit fleeing north from Mergui.

PoW's group escorted Langley past the danger point and is now heading north to accompany the big ARD that left Manila.

At Pearl, I'm finally at the point on the repair screen where I don't have to wait 5 minutes between ship repair modes. It will be some time before I can send the beat up battleships to the West Coast. I'm mostly sending the lighter stuff through the shipyard first to speed things up. Stuff in the states is repairing. Seattle and San Francisco are short on supply, so nothing will be getting sent out soon. Lots more available troops are available early on in the US, compared to more stock scenarios. One USMC division is already assembled at San Diego and moving to San Fran. With 100 PPs a day coming in, I should be able go get stuff moved out quicker. I think I have more militarized troopships as well.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (12/31/2017 4:20:09 PM)

19 December 1942

Hong Kong falls. Tarawa fell the previous day. The only long shot I've seen out of him so far.

Troops landed at Legaspi. Other than that, he's still in Northern Luzon. No other landings in the PI yet. I think Steve's still trying to feel his way through this particular scenario. On my end, I can't roll out massive convoys on Dec 8. All my major ports in the US have red exclamation points on them. It'll be at least a month before all the LI there is fixed and supply rolls out.

Kompong Trach received a visit by my B-17s in Rangoon. I saw lots of ships hangout out there, so I figured the port was full. I forgot to stand them down after this, so they'll probably fly there again next turn.

quote:

Morning Air attack on Kompong Trach , at 57,70

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 8

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Kurohime Maru, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-17D Fortress bombing from 9000 feet *
Port Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17D Fortress bombing from 9000 feet *
Port Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb



---------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on Kompong Trach , at 57,70

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 6

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAP Manzyu Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Hikosan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Kurohime Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-17D Fortress bombing from 9000 feet *
Port Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb


Most of the civilians have been evacuated from the Solomons. One left at Kavieng. Everyone in the Lae area has been airlifted out. All those transports in PM made a difference. In Australia, I've sent all the xAKLs to Townsville and I'll rely on them to keep Port Moresby up on supply. All the long range transports in Sydney are off to San Francisco. Likewise, about 25 long range transports left Colombo for Cape Town. I only need medium range stuff from Sydney to keep things up.

A couple Indian brigades are unloading at Rangoon, bound for Moulmein. I'm hoping I can hold Burma in this one. One RN BB is enroute to Pearl via Cape Town. Since the Indian ocean is a closed lake, I'll keep the Royal Navy at a reduced state here. Enough for escorts and such. I'll eventually get the good carriers to Pearl also, where USMC aircraft will take over. I'll need the extra help if I push into the Marshalls early. That plan's still some months off yet.

My two USN carriers are three days out from Sydney. I'll run them south along the continent past Perth to near Soerabaja. Any cheap move by the Japanese will get a surprise. If KB shows, then they're gone.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (1/1/2018 4:08:34 AM)

20 Dec 1941

More of the same. Prince of Wales, Repulse and others were dispatched to protect a 20,000 ton ARD leaving Manila. Mini-KB showed up.

quote:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tawi Tawi at 71,92

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero-Reisen x 18
B5N2 Kate-Kankoh x 50
D3A1 Val-Kanbaku x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate-Kankoh: 5 damaged
B5N2 Kate-Kankoh: 2 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val-Kanbaku: 5 damaged
D3A1 Val-Kanbaku: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
BC Repulse, Torpedo hits 2
DD Pope
BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 1
xAPc Kanlaon, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Parrott
xAPc Compagnia Filipinas
CL Marblehead
xAPc Isla Filipinas, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CA Houston, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x D3A1 Val-Kanbaku releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
22 x B5N2 Kate-Kankoh launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
25 x B5N2 Kate-Kankoh launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
4 x D3A1 Val-Kanbaku releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
3 x D3A1 Val-Kanbaku releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb


PoW's torp must have been a dud, as she has practically no damage. Two squadrons of Buffalos will LRCAP over them next turn. I'm in a quandary here, as I would like to keep that drydock. Repulse is significantly damaged, but survivable.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (1/3/2018 12:09:28 AM)

22 December 1941

Mini-KB seems to have backed off, giving my ships some hope of getting away. On the down side, a sub put two torps into Repulse. She's at something like 25 sys and 95 flt, so I'm not counting on her making it. Prince of Wales has very light damage, considering that she ate three torpedoes. She'll be back up in no time.

Laoag and Vigan fell.

I've set Bataan to stockpile and they're over 100k in supply now. Everyone's moving there, per War Plan Orange doctrine.

Enterprise and Lexington arrived at Sydney. I'm getting everyone fixed up and they'll be out in 4 days. Nothing really in the pool yet to beef up fighter counts. All the attack squadrons are at full strength. The downside is that Lex is carrying F2As yet. They're probably an even match for mini-KB. Yorktown just arrived at Panama and is enroute to Pearl to join Sara.

To note...

Cristobal in this game is known as CARIBSEAFRON, while Balboa is called "Panama Canal". There's also a new off-map base two hexes NE of Salt Lake City, called "Emergency Reserve", which has some large-ish squadrons of airplanes used for training. These can't be transferred anywhere else. They have no mission options besides training.



LargeSlowTarget -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (1/3/2018 4:29:57 PM)

quote:

I've set Bataan to stockpile and they're over 100k in supply now. Everyone's moving there, per War Plan Orange doctrine.


Watch for spoilage, I think Bataan can hold only 53k of supplies. Better to defend Clark for some time until supply has gone below stockpile limits, Clark has a higher supply limit and as a bonus no malaria.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (1/3/2018 11:10:19 PM)

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

23 December 1941

His carrier picture is becoming clearer. It looks like mini-KB is actually on the north side of Borneo, as they hit some more straggling light transports.

Meanwhile, near Tarakan, Canopus runs into the real force.

quote:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Tawi Tawi at 71,91, Range 29,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CV Shokaku
CV Zuikaku
CV Akagi
BB Hiei
BB Kirishima
DD Kagero
DD Isokaze
DD Shiranui
DD Urakaze
DD Tanikaze

Allied Ships
AS Canopus

Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions: 28,000 yards
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 23,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 23,000 yards
Both TF attempt to withdraw!
Range increases to 29,000 yards...
Both Task Forces evade combat


It looks like KB may be split into halves right now. I'm not likely to run my carriers anywhere near there at this point. His ships have been busy hitting all the xAKL chaff trying to get out, as well as my AS getting sunk.

I had sent some DMs to Roi Namur. It turns out, some cruisers were based there, and I'm getting chased back to Pearl, losing a couple.

quote:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Taongi at 135,106, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Aoba
CA Kinugasa
CA Furutaka
CA Kako
DD Oboro
DD Uzuki
DD Kikuzuki
DD Yuzuki

Allied Ships
DM Breese, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
DM Preble
DM Pruitt
DM Sicard, Shell hits 1

Low visibility due to Rain with 14% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 14% moonlight: 1,000 yards
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
Range closes to 2,000 yards...
Range closes to 1,000 yards...
Goto, Aritomo crosses the 'T'
CA Kako engages DM Sicard at 1,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages DM Pruitt at 1,000 yards
DM Breese sunk by CA Kinugasa at 1,000 yards
Range increases to 2,000 yards
CA Kako engages DM Sicard at 2,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages DM Pruitt at 2,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages DM Preble at 2,000 yards
DD Uzuki engages DM Pruitt at 2,000 yards
DD Oboro engages DM Pruitt at 2,000 yards
Task forces break off...


On the upside, I've already claimed a ship there.

quote:

TF 392 encounters mine field at Roi-Namur (132,114)

Japanese Ships
xAKL Katsura Maru, Mine hits 1, heavy damage


I think I'll get my carriers in Sydney back to Pearl via the Marshalls and hit anything as I cross by.

Repulse looks to be healing herself a little bit, so I'm more hopeful she'll get to Soerabaja safely. Likewise, I think my big ARD is out of the woods. That thing seems to be cruising rather quickly than her 5 kts would indicate.



Bif1961 -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (1/6/2018 1:39:43 AM)

The F2A has good range so you might want to use it as long range escort or searching.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (1/6/2018 4:40:50 PM)

Yeah, but if they meet CAP... I suppose they'd serve as ablative armor for the strike planes.

26 December 1941

I think I'm mostly getting my affairs in order.

Any long range transports in Australia or the DEI are bound for San Francisco to serve more global needs. Every transport left at Soerabaja is on the way out. I have several packs of xAPs roaming out to pick up all the civilians. Since I recombined the Australians at Singapore, I have a wait until I can get that division flipped and shipped out. I need about 2200 PPs and I'm now at 1300. 100 a day is nice. About 10 days to go. Once they're out, I'll free up any loose Dutch units and ship them back to Java. I may keep an eye on getting some out to Burma.

Speaking of... I caught a transport TF rounding the corner of Oosthaven to Singapore, with the British 55 Division and another unit on board. I got them turned around and enroute to Moulmein. I am a believer that Burma can be kept if enough troops are plugged in. Worst case: they retreat north and get back to India to help out there.

I'm being relatively unmolested in lower Malaya. No bombers have appeared over Singapore yet and his troops are no further than about 2 hexes south of Kota Bharu. Some of my troops in the center are being chased, but that's about it. I should get the Aussies out unmolested.

Out east, I found I have an AR and an AS at Pearl, so they're enroute to Midway. Fuel and supply are also getting shipped. That'll be my forward sub base from here on out until I take the Marshalls. A 2,000 ton ARD is also about half way there. Also YFD-1 Dewey is only two hexes from Soerabaja, so I did get her out of Manila, sacrificing the health of my capital ships to do it. Repulse is chugging along and I think she'll make it.

Ironically, Pearl Harbor is my main source of supply at the moment, having over 140k there. Everyone's in the red in the States. For instance, at San Francisco, I have 353 out of 2340 light industry working there right now. The proportions are probably similar all across the US. It will be at least a month before they recover and I can get the convoys out. I'll need that time anyway to get all my shipping gathered up and sent there.

Any RN battleships and carriers will route to Pearl via Panama to support my Marshalls move. The native squadrons will be replaced by USMC squadrons. It would be nice to front 6-8 carriers on such an op and the battleships will deal it out on the landings. British capital ships won't really serve me well in the India/Burma theatre. From my experience anyway.

One thing I really need in Burma are decent search planes. Not much is in India to send there. I've got one of my B-17D squadrons doing this right now.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (1/7/2018 2:27:25 PM)

28 December 1942

Yorktown's 4 days away from entering the map. I've got a gaggle of destroyers to escort her in, since I still have sub issues near Pearl. Some of the lesser injured battleships there will be fixed within the next 4 days or so, just in time to get their AA upgrades. Likewise, Warspite will be out of Tacoma in 2 days. Colorado will be awhile yet.

Steve's cleaning up Luzon fairly quickly. I had left Manila only to have him grab it out of the blue. The Yokosuka 3rd SNLF took it, and I'm guessing they're paras. Davao and Digos, on Mindanao, also fell. Clark fell this turn

Brunei fell a couple days ago, so he's working the top part of Borneo. Landings are gong on at Miri. I've stuffed a bunch of mines on Tarakan, so we'll see how that works.

He has AMcs at Roi-Namur and they've been busy cleaning up my mess there. He dropped a bunch at Soerabaja, and my four have been wiping them up too.

I've been having issues with Tracker recently. I hit the "load" function and nothing happens. Doesn't do anything. I've been playing with the memory settings in the batch file, but nothing. This is irritating, as I rely on it to let me know when LCUs reach their destination. I'll try stuffing large numbers in there. I don't know what else to do otherwise. I already did a fresh install.




Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (1/7/2018 10:58:38 PM)

29 December 1942

My first river battle. I got the better part of this.

quote:

Night Time Surface Combat at 83,48, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PG Seta
PG Katata
PG Hozu
PG Hira, Shell hits 1, heavy fires

Allied Ships
PG Ying Shan, Shell hits 1
PG Ying Teh
PG Ying Hao
PG Mei Yuan
PG Yung Sui

Improved night sighting under 75% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 75% moonlight: 8,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards
Yuziang R. crosses the 'T'
PG Hozu engages PG Ying Teh at 8,000 yards
Range closes to 7,000 yards
PG Ying Teh engages PG Hira at 7,000 yards
PG Hozu engages PG Ying Shan at 7,000 yards
PG Ying Hao engages PG Hira at 7,000 yards
PG Hira engages PG Ying Teh at 7,000 yards
PG Hira engages PG Ying Shan at 7,000 yards
PG Hira engages PG Yung Sui at 7,000 yards
PG Yung Sui engages PG Hozu at 7,000 yards
PG Ying Shan engages PG Seta at 7,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
PG Hozu engages PG Yung Sui at 9,000 yards
Range increases to 12,000 yards
PG Hozu engages PG Yung Sui at 12,000 yards
PG Katata engages PG Ying Teh at 12,000 yards
PG Seta engages PG Yung Sui at 12,000 yards
PG Ying Shan engages PG Seta at 12,000 yards
Task forces break off...


---------------------------------------------

Night Time Surface Combat at 83,48, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PG Fushimi, Shell hits 1
PG Sumida, Shell hits 9, and is sunk

Allied Ships
PG Ying Shan
PG Ying Teh
PG Ying Hao, Shell hits 1
PG Mei Yuan
PG Yung Sui

Improved night sighting under 82% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 82% moonlight: 8,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
Japanese open fire on surprised Allied ships at 8,000 yards
Range closes to 5,000 yards
PG Ying Hao engages PG Sumida at 5,000 yards
PG Ying Teh engages PG Sumida at 5,000 yards
PG Sumida engages PG Ying Shan at 5,000 yards
Range closes to 4,000 yards
PG Yung Sui engages PG Sumida at 4,000 yards
PG Sumida engages PG Mei Yuan at 4,000 yards
PG Ying Hao engages PG Sumida at 4,000 yards
PG Sumida engages PG Ying Teh at 4,000 yards
PG Sumida engages PG Ying Shan at 4,000 yards
Range closes to 3,000 yards
PG Yung Sui engages PG Sumida at 3,000 yards
PG Fushimi engages PG Yung Sui at 3,000 yards
PG Ying Hao engages PG Sumida at 3,000 yards
PG Sumida engages PG Ying Shan at 3,000 yards
Range increases to 5,000 yards
PG Yung Sui engages PG Sumida at 5,000 yards
PG Sumida engages PG Ying Teh at 5,000 yards
Range increases to 7,000 yards
PG Sumida sunk by PG Mei Yuan at 7,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
PG Fushimi engages PG Yung Sui at 9,000 yards
Range increases to 12,000 yards
PG Fushimi engages PG Mei Yuan at 12,000 yards
Task forces break off...


Followed up by this:

quote:

Night Naval bombardment of Ichang at 83,48

Allied Ships
PG Yung Sui
PG Mei Yuan
PG Ying Hao
PG Ying Teh
PG Ying Shan

Runway hits 2
Port hits 1

PG Yung Sui firing at 34th Division
PG Mei Yuan firing at Ichang
PG Ying Hao firing at 34th Division
PG Ying Teh firing at 68ID 14th Ind.Mix.' Brigade
PG Ying Shan firing at 68ID 14th Ind.Mix.' Brigade


Repulse got caught by a sub a couple hexes from port. Too bad.

Subs are also showing up off San Francisco, forcing me to get escorts out to any stray transports.



Mundy -> RE: Getting Bottlenecked: SierraJuliet (J) vs Mundy (A) (1/9/2018 12:25:49 AM)

30 December 1941

Different stuff.

A convoy showed up in Eastern US to dump off 600 Aviation Supports into the pool.

Landings:
Dadjangas (78,93)
Weston / Beaufort (66,87)

Losses:
Kampar (49,77)
Mergui (53,62)
Tavoy (54,60)

My carriers have departed Sydney, bound for Pearl Harbor via the Marshalls. Two days until Yorktown is on-map. Warspite departed Tacoma for Pearl also. A pack of DD/DMSs have left Pearl to escort her in.

Price of Wales, Marblehead and Houston have left portside for readiness at Soerabaja to move to Cape Town and from there, Pearl Harbor. All three need to be fixed anyway.



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