RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back?

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back?

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/15/2012 7:48:47 PM

JocMeister

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Re: that para assault on Efate in post #114 - he was sitting behind level 3 forts and paratroopers lack the stuff needed to destroy defences and root them out. He also had a terrain defensive bonus. He must have had a very good leader there to get a '-' on the allied side; I think the +/- ratings are relative between the combattants, not relative to some fixed value. The only other think I can think of is that the para leader didn't land with the group or was killed/disabled in the landing.
How did you get a deliberate attack there - I thought paras always shock attacked when they landed?

That makes good sense now in hindsight! Next time I will bring bigger guns! Didn�t know it counted the difference between leaders! Good info. Thank you!

I actually sent them there by boat. Hence the deliberate attack. Recon showed only 30 troops or something like that. Lesson learned!

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Post #: 121

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/15/2012 7:59:56 PM

JocMeister

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Burma Airwar Day 2 Losses

First sweep went in and took a beating. All Hellcat losses are from the first group. It will later show that this was the green group. I lost 9! pilots from that group. I might have to consider using newly trained groups for this purpose. I don�t have the pilot pool to sustain losses like this.

Nevertheless the second group just smashes his CAP.

Morning Air attack on Katha , at 61,43

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 30 NM, estimated altitude 38,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 7
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 12
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 26

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 36

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 3 destroyed

No Allied losses

Tomorrow the Hurris will go in! 120 Hurricanes will Sweep/LRCAP.

In the SoPac area I have been having some 4E fun while waiting for Efafe to be built up. Yesterday I completely wiped out all troops on Mornington Island. At least I think I did because the target setting was reset on all 4Es.

Morning Air attack on 8th Indpt SNLF Coy , at 84,135 (Mornington Island)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 57
B-17F Fortress x 12
LB-30 Liberator x 15
B-24D Liberator x 72
B-24D1 Liberator x 54

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
568 casualties reported
Squads: 22 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 35 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 9 (5 destroyed, 4 disabled)

That was fun!

Today we visited to lovely island of Horn Island.

Morning Air attack on Kure 2nd SNLF , at 91,128 (Horn Island)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 66
B-17F Fortress x 12
LB-30 Liberator x 15
B-24D Liberator x 69
B-24D1 Liberator x 59

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
1208 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 111 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 28 (1 destroyed, 27 disabled)

This is turning out to be great fun!

But I will probably stand them down for a while now. Don�t want Erik to get second thoughts about making a stand on Ndeni.

Here are to losses for today.

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Post #: 122

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/16/2012 7:55:40 AM

JocMeister

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Burma Airwar - Day 3 Losses

Hurricanes went in today and didn�t fare very well. They got pretty beat up by what I can only think is an Elite group of A5M5s. The Zekes did all the killing. Despite this I�m not to beat down. All my Hurris were piloted by pretty green pilots (50/70/60). All except one group that came in alone on the second sweep.

quote:

Morning Air attack on Katha , at 61,43

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 15 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 12
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 15
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 51

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 16
Hurricane IIc Trop x 47

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 5 destroyed

Second sweep.

quote:

Morning Air attack on Katha , at 61,43

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 36,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 6
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 9
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 24

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 2 destroyed

Tomorrow 100 P40Ks with low exp pilots will go in. I think the future of the Burma airwar will be decided with this sweep. This is really the only airframe and pilot pool that can sustain any kind of attrition. If they go in and do catastrophic results as usual when it comes to the P40 I will probably have to rethink some bits.

I still have alot of unused bombers sitting around...

I have decided to withdraw and upgrade my groundtroops from Burma. Monsoon is about to break anyway. I also have some serious firepower coming in. Two US divisions and a high exp Indian divison is arriving shortly. I have also flow in two MASSIVE Chinese Corps from China. This will add something like 2500 AV I think. Not sure how much AV the Chinese Corps will hold when they are filled up. Could be even more.

We will return with a vengeance...

SoPac

Looks like Erik is withdrawing from Deboyne and Rossel Island. Heh, guess he didn�t like what 200 4Es can do to ground troops exposed without air cover.

Luganville invasion is still gathering up. I also made a very stupid mistake again. I noticed my airframes wern�t repairing on Tanna. The AS unit there had 96 in fatigue despite me making sure not to go over the limit... But it turns out the SUPPORT was shorty be about 100. I guess that fatigued the AS unit... an USA BF with 200 support is on its way. I might have to postpone the invasion until this is sorted.

I also started sweeping all bases from mines as Erik was trying to be cute and used subs to mine some ports. Lost 2 PTs to mines...

Here are todays losses.

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Post #: 123

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/16/2012 11:27:04 AM

JocMeister

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Burma Airwar - Day 4 Losses

I was actually pleasantly surprised today. The P40Ks with completely green pilots held there own getting about a 1:1 ratio. I think Eriks Tojos flying LRCAP from the south are suffering a bit from fatigue.

I had the upper hand early on in the combat before the Tojos arrived, got the dive and tore into the P40.

quote:

Morning Air attack on Katha , at 61,43

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 26 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 11
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 15
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 42

Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 99

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 3 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 7 destroyed

I have decided to keep going for one more rotation. So the P38 are up today. They should do well. A bit surprised Erik hasn�t made any big commitment yet. Either he is happy with the loss ratio or he fears I will strike with bombers at his rear area and feels he needs to maintain CAP.

Todays losses

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Post #: 124

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/16/2012 6:24:46 PM

JocMeister

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Burma Airwar - Day 5 Losses

The first really good day for the allies. 75 P38 with the absolute elite of the US army tear into the Jap CAP at Katha.

Results are excellent.

quote:

Afternoon Air attack on Katha , at 61,43

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 56 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 11
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 20
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 39
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 3

Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 25
P-38F Lightning x 25
P-38G Lightning x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 8 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38F Lightning: 1 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed

We also see the combat debut of the Tojo IIb as two "leak" over to the combat. One is damaged. I think Erik is stacking the armored Oscars low to get my sweep down. Unfortunately for Erik the armor helped little, and the speed of the P38 and experience of the pilots meant I got a tonnes of "P38 evades" when the Tojos dived.

Very happy about today.

Losses:

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< Message edited by JocMeister -- 9/16/2012 6:53:19 PM >

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Post #: 125

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/17/2012 7:58:48 PM

JocMeister

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Burma Airwar - Day 6 Losses

Not a very good day for the Allies. The LRCAP set to go in with the sweep failed to do so. Does anyone have any idea on why this happens from time to time?

So 35 Hellcats go in alone. Only 2 pilots lost though. So thats a blessing!

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/17/2012 8:04:09 PM

JocMeister

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Burma Airwar - Day 7 Losses

Worst day so far for the Allies. I had several sweeps set to go in over Katha followed by a huge air bombardment of the airfield with the intention of closing it. I have been trying to avoid using LRCAP over the same base as I send in bombers as this nullifies the use of escort. So I had several groups including a group of Hellcats set on sweep. Everything flew as it was supposed to taking massive losses. But not the bombers. So all losses were completely in vain. That sucks

I should mention that the sweeps went in from the same base as the bombers. No clue why they didn�t fly!

Losses:

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/17/2012 8:09:45 PM

JocMeister

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Burma Airwar - Day 8 Losses

The 3 well rested and now almost filled up P38s go in again. And don�t do to well. The simply suffer too high losses for this to be sustained.

I now have no rested and filled up squadrons to send in. For the first time in 8 days. No mission will be flown over Burma.

I will try and sum up tomorrow why I think this Airwar failed.

But hopefully I will have some other fun screens to post tomorrow concerning OZ... Stay tuned!

Losses for the day:

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Post #: 128

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/18/2012 3:20:52 PM

JocMeister

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Why you should not stack 80 bombers withing 4E range on a level 4 airfield with only 16 Zeroes for cap!

I have been trying to get this strike in for over a week but they have failed to fly for unknown reason. But this turn they finally took off. Feel the 4E love?

quote:

Morning Air attack on Exmouth , at 50,129

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 16

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 42
B-17F Fortress x 8
LB-30 Liberator x 13
B-24D Liberator x 57
B-24D1 Liberator x 39

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 1 damaged
G3M3 Nell: 26 destroyed on ground
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 10 destroyed on ground
Ki-57-II Topsy: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 23
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 75

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by JocMeister -- 9/18/2012 3:22:05 PM >

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Post #: 129

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/18/2012 5:05:38 PM

BBfanboy

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Nice haul! Bagging a bunch of the hated Nells or Betties always lifts the spirits!
I have noticed that the Combat Report count of destroyed aircraft always seems to be about 40% less than the ground losses shown on the Intel report for the day. Do you have any feel for which figure is more accurate?

_____________________________

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/18/2012 6:51:49 PM

JocMeister

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I�m not entirely sure but I think the losses screen are somewhat inflated from the actual damage. I base this on comment Erik has made when he has mention my own losses in email. He always seems to think he made more damage then what has done. But I know my own losses are correct on the screen at least!

Perhaps its somewhere in between the report and the losses screen?

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Post #: 131

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/18/2012 7:46:42 PM

JocMeister

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Burma Airwar - Summery

Allied Aircraft losses:
158

Japanese Aircraft losses:
208

Conclusions.

The allied pools can not at its present state engage the Japanese airforce in an attrition war. The only aircraft and pilot pools that sustain attrition for more then a few days are the US army pools and the P40K. But all other pools drained way to fast for comfort.

I will also need more groups able to participate in an offensive. I need to add at least 2 more "rotations" for this to work out. This means waiting for 2 Fighter groups that are to arrive in India in about 2 months. Both are 3 squadron US army groups. One will fly the P47 and the other will fly some airframe that can sustain attrition. In June I get a boost of 20 P38 per month and July is certainly christmas!

I will stand down any offensive missions for now. New time table is perhaps late July for a renewed air offensive. A ground offensive will start as soon as the monsoon ends in october. This should see some serious firepower. I�m hoping for 8-10k AV.

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Post #: 132

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/18/2012 9:05:56 PM

ny59giants

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I'm 6 months ahead of you and I hate the damn P-47s. I can shoot them down, but I lose too many in the process.

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Post #: 133

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/19/2012 5:40:09 PM

JocMeister

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I'm 6 months ahead of you and I hate the damn P-47s. I can shoot them down, but I lose too many in the process.

Sounds promising! I actually received 3 groups of P47 last turn. 75 Shiny lovely P47. They were immediately sent on the 36 day voyage to Cape Town.

9/5 -43

I sit and make elaborate plans to start getting at Erik in Burma and all of the sudden I smack him in SoPac without even trying too...

Luganville is mostly empty so I just sent in a small Amphib force with a Regiment and an AirHQ. I moved in some P38s and Corsairs to LRCAP from Efafe. Whoever said that the Corsair isn�t that good needs to rethink a thing or two. Because they ruled the sky this turn. From what I have seen so far its absolutely on top of the Allied arsenal at this stage. Even with worse pilots then the P38s the Corsair bagged about 70% of the total losses.

Very pleased with the results!

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< Message edited by JocMeister -- 9/19/2012 5:41:56 PM >

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/20/2012 4:05:03 PM

JocMeister

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I�m getting spoiled with fantastic turns lately!

I�m pretty sure Akagi is a goner after two TTs. Erik told me in an email this turn kind of took the wind out of him. You can see the AI formed a "cripple" TF. Also the Akagi hasn�t moved a single hex after the attack and are still in the same hex!

I think this might very well be the 1st CV sunk by a US SS in this game. Unfortunately the Barb was sunk after the attack but but my little digital sailors will be remembered and honored!

If she does sink...this is the 4th Jap CV that goes down.

4-6 in Jap favour...but whose counting?

EDIT: I should add that even though Ryujo and Junyo are still on the sunk list my gut tells me they are at best at the repair yard.

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< Message edited by JocMeister -- 9/20/2012 5:09:11 PM >

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Post #: 135

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/21/2012 10:52:57 AM

JocMeister

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I think Erik is up to something. He has been returning turns a lot faster and more frequent then usual. I�m also seeing A LOT of OPS losses on his side. So he is moving many air units around. Its up across the board. Both Navy and Army bombers and fighters. He is loosing around 10 planes per turn. Last turn almost 20. So something is definitely up.
Its also very unlike him to sit quietly and watch me creep up towards the Solomons...He has been all over me as soon as I have tried something earlier.

I have a very bad feeling about this... Question is what he is up to? KB (well Akagi was) sighted close to Eniwetok. Was KB moving to or from the SoPac. It was the first sighting for a long time. He might have had them refit at the HI and they are now returning towards SoPac. But if so, why via Eniwetok and not Truk?

Is he going to raid again? Or is he returning to SoPac? Another option is that he is going to smash my NoPac island hopping....

If he raids thats good news. He won�t catch anything. If he is trying to raid the WC or PH again he will take a lot of losses. Even though I only have obsolete planes left there its still close to 500 fighters on the WC and 200 on PH. Enough I hope to really bleed his strike packages.

Nopac, even better! I have almost nothing there. Certainly nothing I would miss.

SoPac. It would complicate things as I�m a bit spread out right now. But it would also give me a good opportunity to strike at him. I still have some 300-400 strike AC available.

Or is he going to do something completely else? I have no clue what that could be though? Counter invade somewhere? Only place I think he can do something is the Line Islands. If he wants them he can have them. As soon as I get a fix on the KB and knows its a few days away I will launch a little surprise.

I may sound confident but I�m really not. He is up to something. Probably something big! I think the key to this is to understand why KB (assuming Akagi was with the KB) at Eniwetok? Raid PH? I have 200 fighters there and nothing of value besides 3 old BBs still repairing from PH.

Anyone have any ideas?

UPDATE:
Just went through the whole Pacific area of the map and found some stuff to take care of to minimize the risks. I rerouted some TFs, intensified search in the Line Islands and CAP at PH. I also started moving stuff from Suva to Noumuea as Suva is more exposed for a possible raid.

I�m 95% certain KB is at Truk right now. I had 7 or 8 ASW attacks by Kates around Truk this turn. I have withdrawn the subs a bit away from Truk.

Lets see where he goes next!

< Message edited by JocMeister -- 9/21/2012 11:46:02 AM >

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Post #: 136

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/21/2012 7:03:43 PM

BBfanboy

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A SOPAC raid sounds most likely if the info in the mouseover is accurate - near Eniwetok and headed SE. The absence of SCTFs and amphib TFs also suggests a raid on convoy routes or an attempt to find any allied amphib TFs passing through.

The Kates near Truk could be from the damaged Akagi limping into port to stabilize flooding and erase system damage before going home for drydock. A 40,000 ton ship is not going to sink from two torps unless fires and explosions finish the job!

I think you are right about KB having been absent for upgrades. I know four of the big carriers can upgrade in June and the other two either May or July [I forget which]. If they were active in that period they likely did their ugrades in August - early Sept. and have just ventured forth again.

That's my 0� worth [ don't have my Masters in AE yet to claim the usual 2�].

_____________________________

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/21/2012 8:12:52 PM

JocMeister

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I think you are right about a raid in the SoPac area. Thats the only things that makes any sense right now. He won�t be able to penetrate the line islands without being detected though. I don�t have anything of value moving in the area right now.

He could be trying to ambush the Essex that came online last turn thinking I will move her directly to SoPac. I won�t do that though. He won�t see any carriers until early 42. When I find the time I will sit down and try and assess his CV strength.

Its heartbreaking to hear you don�t think the Akagi sank! I had high hope she was now a coral reef! Crap if you are right!

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Post #: 138

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/21/2012 8:40:07 PM

BBfanboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

I think you are right about a raid in the SoPac area. Thats the only things that makes any sense right now. He won�t be able to penetrate the line islands without being detected though. I don�t have anything of value moving in the area right now.

He could be trying to ambush the Essex that came online last turn thinking I will move her directly to SoPac. I won�t do that though. He won�t see any carriers until early 42. When I find the time I will sit down and try and assess his CV strength.

Its heartbreaking to hear you don�t think the Akagi sank! I had high hope she was now a coral reef! Crap if you are right!

You found a way to go back to the beginning of '42? You gotta post that in the War Room part of this forum so we can all redo the early war with future reinforcements!

Don't fret too much about Akagi - if not sunk she is headed for six months or so in the yards. By the time she comes out her role will be to deliver aircraft to your buzzsaw/plane chipper.

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

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Post #: 139

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/21/2012 8:48:38 PM

JocMeister

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Haha, Wooops! 44!

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Post #: 140

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/22/2012 6:58:48 PM

JocMeister

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SoPac Area 23rd of May 1943

So, KB (or part of) finally showed up. I have no idea why he decided to show at least part of it to me at Tulagi. He knows I get excellent intel from it and have been for almost a month now. This leads me to believe he wants me to see parts of it and perhaps believe it to be the full KB. If so parts of the KB is raiding somewhere...

If it is the full KB I have no idea why he decided to show me where it is. Either he is going to try and penetrate my perimeter with it or he is trying to scare me into suspending operations. If I were him I wouldn�t want to go up against LBA at this time. He could certainly penetrate whatever CAP I put up as the game seems to have a tendency to let all KB strikes to go right through almost without losses. But there is simply no targets valuable enough for him to risk loosing pilots for. I�m just using barges, LSTs, SC and a CL Division. Everything is done under aircover with no value ships.

Perhaps the next turn will show what he wants. I reshuffled a few air groups. Unfortunately all my "class A" airgroups (80+ EXP Pilots in Corsairs and Hellcats) are too fatigued after LRCAPing my landing at Torres Island to participate. So I moved up 50 Spits with 32 Elite pilots and augmented that with some 100 F4Fs.

I only withdrew the LST offloading the last supply on Torres and redirected all TFs outside bases to get under CAP.

Could be an interesting turn. If he gets to close I have the 60 DBs and 50 TBs Efafe with a 8 range setting. They are set to be escorted by 28 Wildcats. If he can get through time and time again with almost zero losses so should I...

Another option could be that he got cold feet and decided to withdraw from Ndeni and thinks he needs CV cover for it. If so I�ll be happy to have it.

A completely other option could be that Erik does what Erik usually does and goes for an all out counter attack. Not likely though...

Here is the situation!

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/22/2012 8:16:40 PM

BBfanboy

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/23/2012 2:38:17 PM

JocMeister

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First battle of Torrest Island! (May 27th 1943)

After two days of Japanese sweeps over Torres Island the Allies rise to challenge. For the first time in the war the Japanese face off against the Corsairs and Hellcats in big numbers as almost 50 Corsairs and 50 Hellcats take to the sky!

Results are excellent! With some luck Erik had offloaded some of his Carrier groups and they are among the victims! That might be wishing for too much though!

Later in the day the Japanese tries a massed Para drop over the base. But the Allied LRCAP takes its toll and flak claims a few victims. The 11th Marine stands their ground.

quote:

Ground combat at Torres Islands (120,147)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1188 troops, 17 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 86

Defending force 994 troops, 49 guns, 5 vehicles, Assault Value = 32

Japanese adjusted assault: 54

Allied adjusted defense: 41

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
67 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
4th Raiding Rgt /1
3rd Raiding Rgt /1
1st Raiding Rgt /1
Yokosuka 3rd SNLF /1
Yokosuka 1st SNLF /1

Defending units:
11th Marine Defense Battalion

Obviously the Marines are in some problems unless we can help them out. I have no idea why Erik thought this a good idea. I can only speculate that he thought he could win air superiority over Torres and then easily extract his troops via air once the base was captured. I think this might have been a case of "I must do something".

I have a plan to try and save the Marines. Its pretty straight forward. Tomorrow 150 Fighters will LRCAP over the base hopefully removing any aircover over Torres. 300 4Es and 100 2Es will fly ground support. If weather permits and they fly I think Eriks 1700 paratroopers will cease to exist after that.

I have a CL force sweeping up from Efafe and another force of 2 CAs and some DMs trying to lay a mine field. I also have another batch of PTs taking up station. I will not commit any major surface assets at Torres Island yet.

Lets see what the Second day of Battle brings!

Here are the losses!

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/23/2012 2:49:09 PM

JocMeister

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Aircraft pools concerning the SoPac operations.

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/23/2012 6:18:04 PM

BBfanboy

Posts: 18046
Joined: 8/4/2010
From: Winnipeg, MB
Status: offline

Nice LRCAP trap!
Note that all those invaders are fragments. If he is willing to take the air losses he can drop again next turn and he will have enough to take the island.
Do you have any paratroops or raider units you can fly in? Any unit with good AV and little equipment will help. Using Catalinas for transport enables you to bring more equipment than just using C-47s - e.g. I think a Cat can carry some A/T or AA guns that C-47s cannot.

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/24/2012 4:32:16 PM

JocMeister

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Joined: 7/29/2009
From: Sweden
Status: offline

He did indeed fly in more troops but the bombers saved the day and the 11th Marine defense battalion!

I have a raider unit en route but it will take 3 days until they land. I hope I can keep his forces suppressed! Going by todays results it should be doable!

Battle for Torres Island Day 2

Another great day for the Allies! The sweep/LRCAP over Torres completely clear the air. Wildcats take some losses but only one pilot is lost. And with 300 Wildcats now in the pool I don�t worry too much!

The CL force I sent in are a bit of an disappointment to say the least. They clash with four DDs that fight back ferociously.

quote:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Torres Islands at 120,147, Range 23,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Nenohi
DD Yugure, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Murakumo, Shell hits 4, heavy fires
DD Mochizuki, Shell hits 4, on fire

Allied Ships
CL Cleveland
CL Columbia
DD Fletcher, Shell hits 4
DD Abbot
DD Aulick, Shell hits 1
DD Bache
DD Chevalier, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Conway

Later in the day 300 4Es and 100 2Es come in over Torres in scattered waves. Results are encouraging and have a enormous effect on the following battle.

quote:

Ground combat at Torres Islands (120,147)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1941 troops, 25 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 91

Defending force 960 troops, 49 guns, 5 vehicles, Assault Value = 25

Japanese adjusted assault: 1

Allied adjusted defense: 59

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 59 (fort level 0)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-), supply(-)

Japanese ground losses:
73 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
4th Raiding Rgt /1
Yokosuka 3rd SNLF /1
1st Raiding Rgt /1
3rd Raiding Rgt /1
Yokosuka 1st SNLF /1

Defending units:
11th Marine Defense Battalion

I guess that bombing raid took out all the supply and shot the disruption up through the roof!

Here are todays losses!

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/24/2012 4:50:03 PM

JocMeister

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Joined: 7/29/2009
From: Sweden
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Battle for Torres Island Day 3

After a day of rest the battle resumes on the 30th of May!

Last turn I noticed Erik is getting REALLY thin on fighters in the area. Only 36 were listed over Ndeni. The whole Torres Battle started because I wanted an airbase within good sweeping distance to Ndeni. But I took a chance and it worked!

Ndeni airfield is now CLOSED!

This is a huge relief for me. I had expected weeks if not months of fighting to wrestle the air superiority over Ndeni from Erik. Now he will have to LRCAP from his bases in the Solomons evening out the odds! This is fantastic news and I�m almost ecstatic now!

So I took a chance. I gathered all the P38s I had in the area and sent them over Ndeni. Ofcourse my two groups set to LRCAP failed to show up... But the 25 that did just ripped through the small CAP.

Then the 4Es show up. Here one of the P38 are listed in the combat report but they didn�t show up in the replay?

quote:

Morning Air attack on Ndeni , at 120,143

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K1 Rex x 3
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 10

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 69
B-17F Fortress x 11
LB-30 Liberator x 14
B-24D Liberator x 66
B-24D1 Liberator x 49
P-38G Lightning x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 10 damaged
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 5 destroyed on ground
Ki-56 Thalia: 3 destroyed on ground
H6K2-L Mavis: 2 destroyed on ground
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 47
Airbase supply hits 10
Runway hits 126

Ndeni is now listed at 86 runway damage. With the Jap engineers I guess that will take a while to fix? I will NOT let it become operational again.

He also sent in 2 DDs during the night phase. It looked like he was reinforcing but I don�t know for sure. Both took some shells from the 5inch guns and something went BOOM on a mine!

Here are the losses. Not as impressive as the last few days but this is all that took from the sky over Ndeni. Going through all his bases in the SOPAC I can only find about 100 fighters scattered over different bases with 75 at Rabaul. Will he return in strenght?

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RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/27/2012 5:20:08 PM

JocMeister

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Joined: 7/29/2009
From: Sweden
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6/7 -43

SOPAC remains quiet. I�m bringing in an additional 100AV with some tanks to deal with his paratroopers. Until they arrive much is quiet. No efforts from Eriks side to reinforce or withdraw. Invasion of Ndeni is about a month away.

Rest of the map is dead quiet too. Next invasions are Cold Bay in NOPAC and Mornington and Horn Island in SOPAC.

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Post #: 148

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/27/2012 5:51:58 PM

JocMeister

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Joined: 7/29/2009
From: Sweden
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The future of Burma

I have been looking over the map for hours now but I can�t really decide what to do here. My last excursion showed that supply won�t be an issue and that his airforce was way too strong. His airforce can be dealt with in October I think. More on that later.

I think I have two options to go for here. Either I go for Rangoon or I make an attempt to "free" the Chinese. My problem is that I can�t really decide! I don�t think I will be able to do both so I will have to pick one and go for it.

Rangoon
Liberating Rangoon would probably make his position in Burma unattainable due to lack of supply. Some will flow from China but not enough to sustain his 300.000 men Army. This would probably force him to withdraw to Thailand and/or China. Its would also probably make it impossible to free the Chinese until the Soviets come from the East.

Liberating China
I�m not even sure this is doable and I don�t know how much supply I could get flowing through the mountains from Burma. But if I could get the Chinese in supply thats some 25K(!) worth of now EXP 50 AV. And I have some 4000 squads in the pools just waiting...If I could get them in supply I think he be in some serious problems. He has kept some stuff around but I think A LOT of his Chinese Armies are now in SOPAC and Burma...
I see a lot of problems trying this but if I could pull it off...

I would love to get some input on this. If someone else have a completely other idea I�m all ears!

Airforce
As my Burma air offensive showed I couldn�t endure the attrition a month ago. In October a lot of things will have changed and I hope I can break him enough to let my substantial bomber force come to play. By the time October arrives an additional 200 Fighters will have arrived bringing up the total strength to about 700(!).
I will also have the P47 this time around. Apparently its a pretty nifty aircraft to have around!

Pools will look like this in Burma:
US:
40 P38
56 P47
125 P40
35 P39
130 Hellcats

Together with the British this sums up to about 400 AC per month. I don�t know what number the Japanese can produce at this stage? What would be reasonable to expect? I will try to keep up pressure in the SOPAC region and I might even try something in the CENTPAC. Everything I can to prevent him from moving troops to Burma.

So the Million dollar question is: What do I do with my 10K AV in India? Here is a screenshot of 3 possible routes that I�m contemplating. I won�t be able to bring in ANY support via sea unless it can be done under LBA.

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Post #: 149

RE: Carrier Clash. Sheep bites back? - 9/27/2012 6:46:12 PM

BBfanboy

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Rangoon is a long way south; if you can't bring any supply by sea, it will be difficult to build anything or conduct air ops.
I favour the opening of the Burma Road. Make sure you have lots of anti-tank guns and/or tanks!

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No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

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