RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (Full Version)

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apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (10/30/2018 9:09:03 PM)
24 Jul 42 Dutch sub KX is patrolling the turn by Milne Bay. It spotted destroyers Yugure and Yukaze, which were involved in the recent cruiser run into Port Moresby. The sub fired 4 torpedoes at Yugure and one hit, causing heavy damage. Sinking audio was heard immediately after combat. KX is putting together a good career. It hit CVL Ryujo early in the war, and sank an xAK near Milne Bay 12 days ago. Later in the night, S-47 spotted Yukaze moving alone and smoking, but missed it with 2 torpedoes near Gasmata. Bettys from Roi Namur with Zeros hit troops on Kusaie Island. Damaged carrier Hermes is leaving Noumea today, headed to Sydney for repairs. It was barely saved from its damage south of Shortlands. It is currently SYS 41/FLOT 47/ENG 9/FIRE 0. Much better than the damage in the 80's when it was headed towards Koumac. The Allied carriers get a bit offensive today, and will leave the armada headed south. If OPilot is tempted by the shipping at Tabiteuea, thinking that the Allied carriers are far to the west, we may have a big battle today. Thanks DOCUP. Hopefully we're putting OPilot on the defensive. The sooner that happens, the better. Even if Kusaie becomes an island too far, if it keeps his attention for months instead of Ndeni or Luganville or Tabiteuea, that's good. I have plans for Ocean Island very soon. Preparations are ongoing for Lunga and Tulagi, as well as Milne Bay and nearby islands. These won't be soon but prepping takes time. My plan is to be continue flanking Kwajalein from the west. I may retake Wake Island to flank from the north. I'll let Portland Roads become a prisoner of war camp while I take Milne Bay and Horn Island. Port Moresby will probably not be attacked directly, but isolated with a move north from Milne Bay on the east coast of New Guinea. I'd like to take Ponape and threaten Truk. If Truk is taken, all the enemy south in the Solomons are irrelevant and isolated. A jump from Truk to the east coast of New Guinea seals the deal. This is long term thinking though. Let's see if we have a carrier battle today. [image]local://upfiles/6549/A546AEECF7F24132872A856D4B0FBAB0.gif[/image]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 3:11:30 AM)
25 Jul 42 In the long war, there's usually only few times when all of the big carriers go up against each other. Today was one of those times. First, Allied cruisers move north from Townsville and run over RO-64, which is hit by a depth charge. The task force stops near Cairns, in range of a bombardment of Portland Roads, should I choose to continue on without surprise. The ships were not attacked by air from Port Moresby. I've only watched the replay, not gone into the turn yet. OPilot is out of town until Saturday or Sunday, so I'll be taking my time doing this turn. Hiei, Kirishima and Yamato and escorts go to Tarawa and sink the 2 PT boats there. It would have been beneficial for the enemy to have them stay with the carriers. Or steam right into Tabiteuea and engage the many transports unloading there. Either way, they may have absorbed some of the carrier strikes upcoming. Instead, they then bombard Tarawa. It's a decent bombardment but not nuclear. The 3rd Marine Defense Battalion guns fired back at the battleships but were silenced before the cruisers engaged. Night Naval bombardment of Tarawa at 136,128 - Coastal Guns Fire Back! Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses PBY-5 Catalina: 13 damaged PBY-5 Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground P-40E Warhawk: 4 damaged Japanese Ships BB Yamato BB Kirishima BB Hiei CL Yubari CL Tatsuta CL Kiso CL Tama Allied ground losses: 160 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 23 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled Airbase hits 8 Airbase supply hits 3 Runway hits 23 Port hits 10 Port supply hits 2 Troops on Kusaie Island were bombed by Bettys from Truk. So far, the enemy is alternating Kusaie bombings from Truk and Roi Namur each day. Clark Field is bombed heavily. It is then attacked for the first time. No defender supply. Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 23889 troops, 220 guns, 105 vehicles, Assault Value = 701 Defending force 10850 troops, 202 guns, 162 vehicles, Assault Value = 308 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2 Japanese adjusted assault: 449 Allied adjusted defense: 445 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), preparation(-) experience(-), supply(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 657 casualties reported Squads: 2 destroyed, 53 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled Vehicles lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled) Allied ground losses: 626 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 68 disabled Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 23 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled Assaulting units: 2nd Engineer Regiment 21st Division 24th Infantry Regiment 2nd Tank Regiment 16th Infantry Regiment 1st Ind Engineer Regiment 23rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment 2nd Field Artillery Regiment Defending units: 4th Marine Regiment 57th PS Infantry Regiment 192nd Tank Battalion 26th PS Cavalry Regiment 194th Tank Battalion 301st Construction Battalion 1st Constabulary Regiment Far East USAAF 86th PS Field Artillery Battalion 200th & 515th Coast AA Regiment Clark Field AAF Base Force II/Prov'nl SPM Grp 24th PS FA Regiment I/Prov'nl SPM Grp 35th Avn Sup !/23rd PS FA Battalion 88th PS Field Artillery Regiment I Corps III/Prov'nl SPM Grp Enemy carriers moved south to a point 4 hexes north of Tabiteuea. Allied carriers moved to the hex just west of Tabiteuea. The massive fight takes place with carrier task forces 4 hexes apart, and there is no reaction. No strikes in the morning. The enemy strikes first in the afternoon. Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tabiteuea at 136,134 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 34 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 70 B5N2 Kate x 101 D3A1 Val x 133 D3A2 Val x 19 Allied aircraft Martlet II x 14 P-39D Airacobra x 7 P-40E Warhawk x 9 F4F-3 Wildcat x 55 F4F-4 Wildcat x 120 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 8 destroyed B5N2 Kate: 15 destroyed, 15 damaged B5N2 Kate: 5 destroyed by flak D3A1 Val: 37 destroyed, 17 damaged D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed by flak D3A2 Val: 6 destroyed, 2 damaged Allied aircraft losses F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 destroyed Allied Ships CV Wasp CV Formidable, Bomb hits 1 (bounced) CV Hornet CV Illustrious CV Saratoga, Bomb hits 3, on fire BB North Carolina, Bomb hits 3 (bounced) CV Lexington, Bomb hits 3 CL Phoenix CL Mauritius BB Prince of Wales CL Honolulu CL St. Louis CA Indianapolis CLAA San Juan About half of the Zeros engaged before the Allied fighters tore into the bombers. 63 Kates drop torpedoes. All miss. 83 Vals bomb. Then it was the US and British time to strike. Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Abemama at 137,130 Weather in hex: Overcast Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 31 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 76 Allied aircraft Albacore I x 6 Martlet II x 9 Swordfish I x 12 SBD-3 Dauntless x 216 TBF-1 Avenger x 15 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses Albacore I: 1 destroyed Martlet II: 4 destroyed Swordfish I: 4 destroyed SBD-3 Dauntless: 13 destroyed, 40 damaged SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak TBF-1 Avenger: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged Japanese Ships BB Haruna, Bomb hits 6, on fire CV Hiyo, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires (fuel storage explosion) CV Kaga, Bomb hits 2, on fire CV Hiryu, Bomb hits 1, on fire CV Soryu, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires CV Akagi, Bomb hits 3, on fire DD Shiranui DD Urakaze DD Isokaze, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires DD Tanikaze DD Kagero DD Hamakaze Yes, the big Allied strike went with just 9 Martlets escorting. Can't explain that one. Multiple US fighter squadrons were set for the same altitude but this is what happened. I will check the settings when I do the turn, but I triple-checked them before sending this turn. Lots of needless aircraft losses, and still the SBDs did well. 13 TBFs dropped torpdoes and all missed. 5 Swordfish and 5 Albacores dropped torpedoes and all missed. No torpedo hits for either side. 179 SBDs dropped bombs. 15 TBFs then went it alone and were all shot down by 64 Zeros. 6 Albacores then tried with similar results. Wow. Watching the replay with a big battle like this is just awesome. How long will the defensive CAP engage before exposing the bombers? What? I only sent 9 fighters to escort over 200 bombers? Like I said, in a war that literally takes years to play, fights this big are rare and can be decisive. This one was not. The enemy carriers are certainly hurting more than the Allies', but all may survive. With heavy fires, though, it's possible that 3 could be lost. There's a range of outcomes still possible. What I do know is that the Allied carriers are in good shape. Here's the status (SYS/FLOT/ENG/FIRE): Lexington 11/0/3/0 Saratoga 17/9-6/8/1 Formidable 2/0/1/0 North Carolina 2/0/1-1/0 I took more damage from the high speed run to get into position. Light cruiser Phoenix is 11/0/4-3/0. I'm happy with this result. I'd be more happy if more fighters had flown escort. I need to check the actual aircraft losses for the day to see just how bad it was, for both sides. The Allied carriers were in heavy rain. The enemy was in overcast. That may have helped too. The Allies also benefited from having some land based fighters helping cover, as planned. The complication that I have is that fuel for my carrier task forces is low. Maybe critically low. I needed to run full speed to get to Tabiteuea, and knew that I was draining the fuel quickly. It is mandatory that the carriers take fuel from AOs to get to any safe base. I had 2 replenishment groups to the south of Tabiteuea. I'll have to figure out where to refuel, but I'm sure that it has to be done. The fuel situation could be so bad that I have to refuel in place. I'll know when I check the turn. Quite a battle. If the enemy battleships that bombarded Tarawa had continued with the carriers, more bombs would have bounced off them, saving the carriers from some hits. I expect to hear that OPilot did not think my carriers would change direction and charge to Tabiteuea. I'll detail the aircraft losses and probably do another region by region update in the next few days.

CaptBeefheart -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 7:53:03 AM)
I'd say that was a victory just in terms of aircraft losses. Very well done on the CAP. If you don't mind my asking, what kind of CAP settings did you use (i.e. % on CAP and altitude)? Cheers, CB

L0ckAndL0ad -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 8:48:49 AM)
Interesting! I'm noting that the bigger boys receive more hits than the others, on the Allied side. It's impossible to say without seeing the actual replay how many times each ship was attacked, but it seems that the huge Lexington-class carriers and BB North Carolina were acting as bomb magnets. I wonder if ship's tonnage has anything to do with this. And yeah, that CAP! And, probably, IJN pilot skills? Weather? 320 a/c alpha strike that deals so little damage... I don't know how to call that but it's definitely a huge luck.

jwolf -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 12:58:56 PM)
I wonder if the Japanese will send their big BBs to try to hit your carriers. Their strike aircraft took so many losses that I don't think they could sensibly risk another day of a carrier battle.

BBfanboy -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 3:26:37 PM)
My rule-of-thumb approximation is that half the damaged aircraft will become Ops losses, so the IJN lost about 25% of the Kates and 40% of the Vals. But the most significant thing is that all those torpedo bombers whiffed! The Japanese rely heavily on torpedo hits to balance out the small bombs that the Vals carry. He has to be thinking "WTF happened?". Perhaps the flak losses by the Japanese indicate why they had no luck in spite of the weak CAP. You must have had some cracker jack ship captains too!

Bif1961 -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 4:58:07 PM)
Since you are low in fuel it looks like this carrier battle is over in your favor. You are right to suspect 0-3 of his carriers will go down but since the Hiyo is a converted vessel and not as strong as a keel up built carrier, I would say with the fuel storage explosion it is a goner, so more like 1-3 sunk. However, what this does do, it allows you, with some minor damage repair, to continue the next phase of your offensive while a major portion of his carriers will be in the yards. As carrier engagements go this was a clear victory on your part and even more so since it happened in mid-1942 when he has all the advantages except RADAR. The good news is you didn't sink the majority of his carriers and possibly make him want to surrender, that is always the risk of an early Allied massive carrier victory.

jwolf -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 5:14:24 PM)
quote: The good news is you didn't sink the majority of his carriers and possibly make him want to surrender, that is always the risk of an early Allied massive carrier victory. Heh. I understand your point but that is an ironic aspect to the psychology of the game.

Bif1961 -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 5:39:39 PM)
Yes it is the opposite side of entering or leaving a tunnel. The Japanese start near their zenith and so they are nearing entering a tunnel. If they lose many of their carriers early on, with few replacements then it is like he has been sent warp speed into the tunnel too soon. The Japanese player tries to avoid as long as possible, the eventual reversal of fortune and the Allied counter-offensive starts with an ever increasing death star staring him in the face. For the Allies they start in the tunnel looking at the small speck of light at the other end and if they lose a carrier battle early on the speck stays far away but if they win one they move closer to the end of the tunnel and the speck grows with each success or additional resources to his growing power. Psychology has always been a very important aspect of war, and many times the most critical.

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 9:18:55 PM)
Carrier Battle - Fighter Assignment Analysis All Allied fighters were set for CAP were set for 60% and range 1, covering the carriers and Tabiteuea. All strike bombers and escorts were set for 10k altitude. Only 9 Martlets flew escort. Lexington 36 F4F-4 CAP 15k Lexington 18 F4F-3A Escort 10k Did not fly Saratoga 36 F4F-4 CAP 11k Yorktown 36 F4F-4 CAP 16k Yorktown 18 F4F-3 Escort 10k Did not fly Enterprise 36 F4F-3 CAP 15k Hornet 36 F4F-3 CAP 14k Hornet 18 F4F-3 Escort 10k Did not fly Wasp 36 F4F-4 CAP 12k Illustrious 9 Martlets Escort 10k Formidable 19 Martlets CAP 6k From Tabiteuea: 25 P-40E CAP 15k 25 P-40E CAP 17k 25 P-39D CAP 11k 25 P-39D CAP 9k Both the Allied strike and the Japanese strike were detected at 80nm. If I could do things differently, I would not have assigned Martlets to escort. I'm speculating that the Martlets are too dissimilar to the US fighters, lowering the chances of a coordinated escort. Just a guess. I haven't analysed the aircraft details. I checked the Allied carrier task forces. They are low on fuel, but not critically low. They can all go south to refuel around the Funafuti area. I will run them south along with the shipping at Tabiteuea. There's a decent chance that OPilot sends in battleships from the carrier task forces, looking for my carriers and/or transports.

BBfanboy -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 11:28:14 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Bif1961 Yes it is the opposite side of entering or leaving a tunnel. The Japanese start near their zenith and so they are nearing entering a tunnel. If they lose many of their carriers early on, with few replacements then it is like he has been sent warp speed into the tunnel too soon. The Japanese player tries to avoid as long as possible, the eventual reversal of fortune and the Allied counter-offensive starts with an ever increasing death star staring him in the face. For the Allies they start in the tunnel looking at the small speck of light at the other end and if they lose a carrier battle early on the speck stays far away but if they win one they move closer to the end of the tunnel and the speck grows with each success or additional resources to his growing power. Psychology has always been a very important aspect of war, and many times the most critical. I try to spend as much time in the tunnel as possible .... oh, wait - wrong tunnel. [8D]

BBfanboy -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/1/2018 11:33:52 PM)
Yeah, I was thinking how you could pursue cripples (if fuel permitted) and one of the constraints was him sending strong SCTFs to try to get your carriers at night and prevent them from catching Soryu and Shokaku. Even if they didn't find your carriers they would likely draw strikes that would weaken your shot at the cripples. In the event pursuit was feasible, I would have sent the Allied carriers NW on the assumption his SCTFs were coming directly south. All moot now. [:(]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/2/2018 12:08:25 AM)
Not moot. I'm still working on the turn, and will be through Saturday. OPilot is out of town till Sunday so I'm taking my time with the turn. I'll be looking at pilot training and more long range planning. I'll do a region by region update also. My thoughts on pursuing north. If he has carriers damaged badly enough to be slowed, he'll move north adjacent to Mili, which is a size 2 airfield. No other options unless he goes further north. Jaluit has no airfield. He could move something there and move his lesser damaged carriers adjacent to protect. Or he could just send everything towards Kwajalein. The enemy is not lacking Zeros. He didn't lose that many. His losses were heavy in Vals, and in Kates to a lesser extent. I lost 43 SBD-3s. I'll be thinking more about my options over the next few days. Here's the total air losses for the battle (Total-A2A-Flak-Ground-Ops) D3A1 Val 70-60-6-3-1 Kate 37-22-12-2-1 A6M2 Zero 22-17-0-0-5 D3A2 Val 13-12-0-0-1 SBD-3 43-37-2-0-4 TBF 14-12-0-0-2 Swordfish 7-7-0-0-0 Martlet 7-6-0-0-0 Albacore 7-7-0-0-0 F4F-4 5-4-0-0-1 P-39D 2-1-0-0-1 F4F-3 1-1-0-0-0

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/2/2018 12:18:30 AM)
Current Situation [edit: Note that all of those task forces in the bottom left of the map are withdrawing from Kusaie and headed to Luganville or Suva. None were spotted today.] [image]local://upfiles/6549/9CF172C571DD445FA951091830B5AD6C.gif[/image]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/2/2018 7:44:15 PM)
25 Jul 42 - Aleutians [image]local://upfiles/6549/EBECE9D167164BF5880BB4C67E24AB4B.gif[/image]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/2/2018 7:45:12 PM)
25 Jul 42 - Burma and Western China [image]local://upfiles/6549/812A3241069A40A1AF7B29E7E9A8D5FD.gif[/image]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/2/2018 7:46:07 PM)
25 Jul 42 - Java [image]local://upfiles/6549/8A953CE6D37046EBA7C3E5D8890387BB.gif[/image]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/2/2018 7:46:52 PM)
25 Jul 42 - Marshalls and Gilberts [image]local://upfiles/6549/CDF5B98150F04E2DB56AD356357B79AE.gif[/image]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/2/2018 7:47:27 PM)
25 Jul 42 - Northern China [image]local://upfiles/6549/22D0BE2817384DD1ACC874A2BC870359.gif[/image]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/2/2018 7:48:07 PM)
25 Jul 42 - Philippines [image]local://upfiles/6549/A056CD903DF44ABF95A845879753028C.gif[/image]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/2/2018 7:48:40 PM)
25 Jul 42 - Solomons [image]local://upfiles/6549/7A942AE8EF18432681DB09AD2D283630.gif[/image]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/2/2018 7:53:07 PM)
25 Jul 42 - Intel Screen [image]local://upfiles/6549/0935D7CD9FD546379101EF2AA7AFD9FB.gif[/image]

zuluhour -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/3/2018 1:35:21 PM)
Absolutely no worries about AV. For once I would like to be in that position in summer '42. KUDOs! I have to add I wish I had your skill with land war. China looks great as well as Burma.

tolsdorff -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/3/2018 3:00:03 PM)
Seems like a good victory in the Carrier altercation. Keep it up![sm=00000436.gif]

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/4/2018 12:21:50 AM)
Thanks zuluhour and tolsdorff. Burma looks good with a stalemate. China feels like a disaster in slow motion though. Supply is becoming critical. The enemy is moving in the north and using hundreds of bombers. I think I can hold in the mountains and in the woods, but not elsewhere. I will make a new line just west of Sian. But I want to keep Sian, and that will be difficult with the bombing. If OPilot gets Sian, he'll no longer have any supply issues at his front. Sian is on the rail system. Right now, his units moving north of Sian have to pull supply from a decent distance. I'm happy with the carrier battle. My next priority is tidying things up at Kusaie and Nauru. Getting supply into Kusaie will be difficult but must be accomplished. Nauru will build up to support. I could go for Lunga and Tulagi soon if I wanted to. All of the troops are prepped, and all are in the area except for an armored unit at Pearl Harbor prepping for Tulagi. It may or may not be needed. I may push quickly here with enemy carriers damaged and probably leaving the area. Even damaged Saratoga is operational, but slowed. I don't know what I'll invade or when, but my list of targets being prepared for include Lunga, Tassafronga, Tulagi, Milne Bay, Port Moresby, Tagula, Horn Island, Kirakira, Kwajalein, Ponape, and Wake in the Pacific. In the Indian Ocean, and obviously not happening any time soon, are Rangoon, Pegu and Ramree Island. Turns resuming tomorrow when OPilot returns.

Bif1961 -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/4/2018 1:01:56 AM)
I would agree with pressing forward as soon as possible with his carriers leaving for repairs or going under. Concentrate on paces that aren't Atolls since they trigger an automatic shock attack and you need to be highly prepped to handle that. Get to his bases before he can building them and as you can do that much better than he can and hopefully he won't be able to base much naval land base air there yet making your carriers less vulnerable. You have the advantage now so press him make him strip he IO of the mini-KB and face you now so your limited RN will be free to affect things in that theater.

DOCUP -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/4/2018 1:21:49 AM)
Text book battle. I think you just wrote a new chapter for early carrier battles.

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/4/2018 4:18:20 AM)
Well, having just 9 Martlets for an escort of over 200 bombers wasn't the plan. I theorized that maybe the Martlets were too dissimilar to the USN fighters. Well, I've learned something. The Martlet was an F4F of some kind. I didn't know that.

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/4/2018 10:34:00 PM)
26 Jul 42 North of Palmyra, I-175 fired 2 torpedoes at PC Tiger. They missed. This is north of my usual convoy route. Tiger is escorting an AD, and AG, and a valuable AR from Pearl Harbor to Funafuti. Allied ships bombard Portland Roads. Night Naval bombardment of Portland Roads at 91,132 Allied Ships CA Canberra CA Australia CL Hobart CL Perth CL Tromp CL Sumatra CL Java DD Maury DD McCall DD Gridley DD Craven DD Jarvis DD Ralph Talbot DD Bancroft Japanese ground losses: 348 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 38 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 20 disabled Airbase hits 6 Airbase supply hits 3 Runway hits 25 Port hits 9 Port supply hits 8 The result is decent. Confirms that the main enemy unit there is still 1/3 of the 4th Infantry Division. The other parts are at Horn Island and Port Moresby. Not an offensive arrangement, definitely defensive. I-24 fired 2 torpedoes at APD Litchfield and missed. 8 APDs are spotted. They are returning to Luganville after the Kusaie invasion. Kusaie Island troops are bombed from both Truk and Roi Namur with Bettys. 18 P-38Es from Normanton sweep Portland Roads and find no CAP. B-17s follow. Morning Air attack on Portland Roads , at 91,132 Weather in hex: Light rain Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 5 minutes Allied aircraft B-17D Fortress x 7 B-17E Fortress x 34 No Allied losses Japanese ground losses: 12 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Airbase hits 15 Airbase supply hits 22 Runway hits 55 Good result. The airfield isn't shut down but OPilot probably won't put fighters there right now. Lots of supply hits. I'll rest half of the bombers and start cycling them, hitting the base regularly. OPilot will LRCAP from Horn Island. Neither the Allied carriers or KB were spotted today. We went south. The Japanese probably went north towards Kwajalein. One carrier task force refueled today. The others will do so down by Funafuti. I should have waited with the first one, as I want to keep the carriers together, and now they won't move much today. Saratoga, with 6 FLOT damage, will need a shipyard to repair. That means a trip to Pearl Harbor. I think that all other carriers will remain in the South Pacific. Meaningful repair work will take place at Sydney. Most others will go to Noumea eventually. [edit: Actually Lexington will probably go with Saratoga to Pearl. Both are overdue a lengthy upgrade, over 40 days long. I'll probably send both.] I'm liking the idea of going for the Guadalcanal area sooner rather than later.

apbarog -> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J) (11/5/2018 6:00:26 AM)
27 Jul 42 Near Kirakira in the Solomons, sub Pickerel fired 2 torpedoes at I-173. One hit but it was a dud. I-173 is reporting heavy damage. Bad news north of Funafuti. Sub attack near Nanumea at 138,142 Japanese Ships SS I-33 Allied Ships CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage CA Salt Lake City CL Boise CL Helena CLAA San Diego DD Monaghan DD Dewey DD MacDonough DD Dale SS I-33 launches 6 torpedoes at CV Yorktown Yorktown is SYS 12/FLOT 58-47/ENG 1/FIRE 0. A CLAA broke off to escort Yorktown, and they are one hex northeast of Funafuti. They will go there and disband in the size 1 port. By coincidence, the base was just getting a lot of attention this week, with the first troops landing on it along with supply. Base building has begun. I mentioned yesterday that a task force north of Palmyra was heading here with an AD, AG and an AR. The AR might get some work. Yorktown will stay there and repair the FLOT damage down to 47-47. Then it will head south to Vava'u, where ARD Dewey will be waiting. Yorktown is slightly less than 20,000 tons and will just fit into Dewey. At some point, Yorktown will probably go to Sydney to finish off repairs. That's the plan anyhow. Let's get it disbanded into Funafuti today. The other carriers will also go to Funafuti, providing lots of SBDs flying ASW missions, something I should have had more of yesterday. Also, the task forces will reorganize and sort out what ships will go where. KB was spotted one hex northeast of Kwajalein. A benefit of having Kusaie Island and Catalinas there. Of course, Bettys have no problem hitting Kusaie, and do so again today. Nauru Island is now a size 1 airfield, and P-40s arrive immediately. British bombers hit an enemy regiment near Imphal. Just mixing up the attacks. I planned a big air day at Myitkyina. Of course the bombers flew first. 14 B-17s did very minor damage to the airfield in moderate rain after tangling with 42 Oscars. 1 B-17 was lost. 22 P-40s then swept, finding just 13 Oscars. Then 6 B-26s with 23 P-39s escorting went up against 10 Oscars. Another 22 P-40 sweep finished the attacks, up against just 4 Oscars. Total air losses were 11 Oscars (4 on the ground), for the cost of 2 P-39s, a P-40 and a B-17. The US 3rd Marine Division is now unloading at Sydney. It is in early preparations for Horn Island. SigInt reports that the 10th RF Gun unit is planning to attack Darwin. This is the first indication of any interest at the almost evacuated Darwin. P-38s again swept Portland Roads and found no CAP. Some B-17s then hit the base.

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