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RE: May Days - 3/8/2013 8:25:19 AM

JocMeister

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I agree with Michael. Having two airfields is twice as good as having one!

Besides if the troops are already prepped why not use them before changing the prep?

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RE: May Days - 3/10/2013 7:14:10 PM

Q-Ball

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

quote:

I still have 1000 AV 100% prepped for Samlauki. I am debating whether to continue with that landing, or bypass. What do you think?

Maybe later you could by-pass a base like this and keep moving forward. Right now, I want a stronger set of shoulders to rely upon. It will allow you to have a few mutually supportive bases and with an AF potential of 8, B-24s can range far and wide.

Thanks you and Joc for commenting....I was leaning that way. They are already prepped, and I can use another base there at Saumlaki, particularly since I likely need a port and another 4E capable airbase to rain death around.

Landing there will still isolate the garrisons at Selaroe and Babo, which I will leave alone. And I think Samlauki is different than Milne Bay; I can build a cluster around Milne Bay without taking it, and because it's still undeveloped, there isn't anything he can do with it in the meantime. It's not a threat. Therefore, I cancelled that landing, and Milne Bay will be a POW camp......

With all this going on, I know Greyjoy is pulling units the best he can with flying boats. I isolated the garrison at Russell Is, and last recon flight revealed only guns/vehicles, probably the heavy equipment left behind by the troops he flew out. I can't really prevent that from happening per se (without having to cap everything), but land units lose effectiveness without heavy artillery, so that helps. This is one benefit to using SNLF units, because they have no heavy equipment that cannot be loaded into a flying boat, so can be withdrawn easily.

But I'll keep trying to isolate units this way, it's one way to limit the power of the IJA as I advance

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Post #: 482

Solomons Fun - 3/14/2013 10:06:26 PM

Q-Ball

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6-30-43 and 7-1-43

This game has been progressing, but very slowly, due to Greyjoy's work schedule and me being out of town. But mostly GJ's work schedule. It doesn't look like he's even been updating his AAR, it's fallen down to bottom on page 2.......but we're still going.

Darwin Area:

We have had a lull in action; I sank a couple subs via Depth Charge, but Molu is building-up unmolested. Enough that we are beginning next steps.

I will be loading in a day or two for Samlauki; I will probably need to make 2 trips, as I lack the shipping to land everyone at once. I can do that, because he won't be able to kick me off the island in the meantime.

After that, I will land at Kai Island. We have 2 divisions prepped, and he has about 6500 troops via Recon, anchored by 1/3 of the 20th Division, which is a good one. Nevertheless, 2 Divs should be enough to clear it.

Solomons:

We landed at Deboyne Island, which is undefended (which is why we are landing there!). We should have an airstrip there within a week or two. We are also landing at Ferguson Island. Once these are built, we can land along the NG coast up to Lae fairly easily; we already have Terapo pretty built-up.

The Solomon Sea is basically pinched-off via Terapo and Treasury Islands, so these last couple moves should make it impassible for IJN shipping. This will isolate the garrisons at Port Moresby, Buna, Milne Bay, Woodlark....something like 35,000 total troops. He can pull alot via flying boat, but that leaves heavy equipment behind. Not optimal.

I was lucky at Treasury Islands; MUSASHI, NAGATO, and MUTSU visited the night of the 30th, but I only had PTs there. They didn't bombard the strip. I had cruisers there the night before, plus transports. Those BBs probably would have done a number on the cruisers. It's good they moved, because I can't afford to lose anymore cruisers.

I will need BBs to support the landings at Torokina for sure....that, or I'll have to close Rabaul airstrip first.

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RE: Solomons Fun - 3/15/2013 12:23:36 AM

ny59giants

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Can you use the big Coronado FP (range 17 hexes with 12,000 capacity) to airlift in SeaBees and then a BF to some of those dot bases that the Allies control??

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Post #: 484

RE: Solomons Fun - 3/15/2013 4:51:40 PM

Q-Ball

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Can you use the big Coronado FP (range 17 hexes with 12,000 capacity) to airlift in SeaBees and then a BF to some of those dot bases that the Allies control??

I have a unit unloading at Ferguson tonight, and I am pulling together more for later. Once I have an airbase at Deboyne, I won't need to use the Flying Boats.

But, you did hit on how I use those Coronados: Float Transport only, never Nav Search. I trained the pilots on TRANSPORT. I wish I got more of them, but 2-3 units will have to do. They are flying barns.

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RE: Solomons Fun - 3/15/2013 4:59:53 PM

JocMeister

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I use them in the same way. Unfortunately you get very few of them! I can barely maintain three squadrons of them as the seem to take quite a few OPS losses. Its a shame as I would love to have more of them.

Seems in general transports are almost impossible to interdict unless you can LRCAP from only 1 hex away. Or am I missing something?

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Post #: 486

RE: Solomons Fun - 3/17/2013 11:02:11 PM

Q-Ball

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7-2-43 to 7-8-43:

Well, another boneheaded move by my part, and Greyjoy took advantage of it. I need to slow it down and wait for CV support, since I haven't sunk any IJN CVs, and I think I'm in good shape to ahead in terms of territory taken. There is no reason to take bad risks at this point, particularly since my losses in APA, BBs, and Cruisers is higher than it should be.

But nevertheless, I took a risk, and paid again. It could have been worse, since I did have a pile of fighters in the air, but it's still bad.

Let's wade into the nightmare...

Samlauki:

Because of my last boneheaded moves, I was short of invasion shipping at Darwin, so I know I have to make 2 trips to Samlauki. No big deal, I figure, because he can't dislodge only 1 division.

The turn before landing at Samlauki, I thought something might be up; I hadn't seen KB, YAMATO was observed by one of my subs sailing West toward Palau, and there were alot of planes around. I did move about 250 fighters to Molu.

KB showed up, and sank alot of my shipping AGAIN, including transports carrying most of the 14th NZ BDE. We landed a division at Samlauki safely, but KB pummelled me.

COLORADO is lightly damaged, and will need yard time. PENNSYLVANIA is heavily damaged, and will need months of yard time. RAMILLIES and ROYAL SOVEREIGN were sunk; not the worst thing the world, as they were about to withdraw anyway, but still. I also lost another 4 APA, plus other odds and ends xAPs and LSTs and other stuff that not as tragic.

The silver lining is that I shot down something like 1000 planes over the last several days, between here and the Solomons. I lost some fighters too, but the pilots left are crack aces. Over Molu, the RAAF Spitfires did great work in particular, but P-40Ks did fine too, as well as the Corsairs and Hellcats.

Anyway, I think I need to take Samlauki, and halt advances in this area until I have CV support, which may be never. It's not a good place for CVs. Thankfully, I have a couple more targets in mind, that I am prepping or prepped for, that have open water on the approach.....

But another expensive lesson.

Solomons:

At least here we made hay while all that was going on near Darwin. We landed at Deboyne with no problems, shooting down a couple hundred aircraft from Rabaul that tried to attack the transports. Ferguson Island was also occupied. The airbase is already active at Deboyne, and should be soon at Ferguson. From there, a quick move up to Finshaven area.

I may start an advance along the NG coast instead; fewer LBA airbases to contend with.

The other interesting thing that happened was that DBs out of Rekata Bay caught and sank CL KASHII and an AMC just off Rabaul. The interesting thing about it is that this TF, which was likely a Fast Transport was loaded with troops and travelling AWAY from me. They were evacuating somebody!

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< Message edited by Q-Ball -- 3/18/2013 1:16:51 AM >

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RE: Solomons Fun - 3/20/2013 8:58:12 AM

JocMeister

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Bittersweet!

At least you got the troops on shore! I hate loosing AKAs/APAs. Very precious and so, so useful.

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RE: Solomons Fun - 3/20/2013 6:50:11 PM

crsutton

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Actually, you take and hold Saumlaki and it is worth the loss. That is a big foothold at this stage of the game. Give me that base and 1000 killed aircraft and I would accept the trade. The two old BBs don't matter much and everything else gets replaced in spades later on. Painful yes, but the base is a strategic win over a heavy tactical loss in shipping.

But you were lucky again and got away light just as you did with the carrier battle earlier. GJ has now bounced you with KB a couple of times. Is there a lesson here?

< Message edited by crsutton -- 3/20/2013 6:52:01 PM >

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RE: Solomons Fun - 3/20/2013 9:44:16 PM

Q-Ball

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quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Actually, you take and hold Saumlaki and it is worth the loss. That is a big foothold at this stage of the game. Give me that base and 1000 killed aircraft and I would accept the trade. The two old BBs don't matter much and everything else gets replaced in spades later on. Painful yes, but the base is a strategic win over a heavy tactical loss in shipping.

I'm not sure...you are right that the 2 Old BBs aren't worth much, because London wants them back anyway. This is why they were there in the first place. The loss in APA to date hurts more actually, because I am limited in offensive options now, at least until production catches up. Perhaps this is wise anyway, I probably should pause on anything risky at this point, and use low-value ships. I lost some LSTs, for example, but I have lots of those, and they have limited utility anyway.

THe problem with Samlauki is while I am too strong to kick off, I am not strong enough to attack him. I need that other division that is prepped. The plan right now is to dribble it in using barges; I don't care if I lose those.

I don't think 1000 planes means anything to Japan. He probably has way more in the pool than I do. The only loss is that he lost a good chunk of CV pilots; that's the 3rd time, so by now alot of the pre-war cadres are probably dead. That's a good thing.

quote:

But you were lucky again and got away light just as you did with the carrier battle earlier. GJ has now bounced you with KB a couple of times. Is there a lesson here?

What, is my role to be a cautionary tale for others?

I don't follow my own advice sometimes, I was surprised a couple times because Greyjoy let me easily take some ground. Allied Victory disease? He did hide KB very well and was very clever with it. I was lucky, but the luck wasn't all his: I didn't mention that I had a clean shot at 2 IJN BBs off Bathurst within Nav attack range of 90 Torpedo bombers during a day phase, but weather stopped all attacks. So it cuts both ways. I could have easily lost PENNSYLVANIA, but as it stands, she'll be out for nearly a year I think.

My losses have been too high, and I have inflicted hardly any damage to the IJN. This is the main problem for me. IN terms of territory, I'm not in bad shape at all; I am ahead of where alot of folks are it seems.

7-9-43 to 7-15-43:

These few turns have been relatively quiet. Some air combat over Treasury Islands, lots of uncontested bombing, but that's about it.

Darwin Area:

One surprise, Greyjoy really had me on the ropes at Molu; the airbase was closed for a day, and he knew it, when he attacked the port I had no CAP up! He left it alone unexplicably, I guess he doesn't want to tangle with the PTs. I am also mining the hex. But that was worrisome, a single BB bombardment closed the place. I do have a pile of engineers, so he would have to bombard alot to keep it closed.

Otherwise, I am sending very small TFs to run supplies and whatnot, basically ships I can afford to lose like xAKLs. I then plan to run more troops to Samlauki via barge.

I don't plan big advances here now; I've learned my lesson, and until I can shut down his airbases at will, I don't have the strength to contest in this area.

I will keep up the pressure though, because he also cannot leave this area alone; he has to leave IJN nearby.

Solomons:

We made a jump in the Solomons while all that was going on, with landings at Deboyne, and now Ferguson Is. We are already prepping for more targets further up. The airbase at Terapo can also help cover a move up the NG Coast to Finschaven.

We are also landing shortly at Torokina, then beyond.

Ultimate target is Manus, which is a big port and otherwise nice jumping point to Mariannas, or Carolines, or wherever.

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RE: Solomons Fun - 3/21/2013 1:47:52 AM

crsutton

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton
. I lost some LSTs, for example, but I have lots of those, and they have limited utility anyway.

THe problem with Samlauki is while I am too strong to kick off, I am not strong enough to attack him. I need that other division that is prepped. The plan right now is to dribble it in using barges; I don't care if I lose those.

I don't think 1000 planes means anything to Japan. He probably has way more in the pool than I do. The only loss is that he lost a good chunk of CV pilots; that's the 3rd time, so by now alot of the pre-war cadres are probably dead. That's a good thing.

Limited utility! I found the LST to be one of the most valuable ships the Allies have. It allows the Allied player to seize dot hexes with great airfields but no ports and build up those bases and keep them supplied. This is something the Japanese player can't do. I use them all over the place. They are an island hopper's dream. I am into 45 now and I got a jillion of them. You can run a dozen fully loaded LST into a dot base and drop off 12,000 supply in one full day. JFBs just have to watch and cry.

You get to 44 and 45 and can then invade atolls using only LSTs, LCIs, LSMs supported by those great rocket LC ships. Much easier to put your men ashore fully supplied and ready to fight in one phase. Sweet...

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RE: Solomons Fun - 3/21/2013 3:37:56 AM

PaxMondo

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I agree, I think you are in good shape and ahead of the timeline here. Yeah, you've suffered some naval losses, but nothing of real consequence. I wouldn't want to pick up this game as IJ right now ...

I think your opponent over-committed in China and didn't get the result he needed (eliminate chinese in '42). That's putting him behind in other areas that are more important IMHO. He's done well with his naval forces, but you've actually reacted very well to those traps and your losses are a lot less than they could have been.

I like your overall strategy so far .... and he hasn't been able to upset it much at all.

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Au Revoir - 3/22/2013 3:54:01 AM

Q-Ball

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quote:

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

I agree, I think you are in good shape and ahead of the timeline here. Yeah, you've suffered some naval losses, but nothing of real consequence. I wouldn't want to pick up this game as IJ right now ...

I think your opponent over-committed in China and didn't get the result he needed (eliminate chinese in '42). That's putting him behind in other areas that are more important IMHO. He's done well with his naval forces, but you've actually reacted very well to those traps and your losses are a lot less than they could have been.

I like your overall strategy so far .... and he hasn't been able to upset it much at all.

Thanks, I haven't executed the strategy particularly well, mostly in taking unnecessary risks. But crawling up the Solomons on dot bases is the thing to do in Mid-1943. I still think the Solomons are not that strategic, but if it's the only place you can advance safely....take what you can get. At least getting to Manus, that's a good jumping point for the Pacific.

I would like to skip all this land and sail to the Mariannas, but I am not ready. First, you need lots of CVs, which I don't have. I also don't want to do alot of island landings without enough APA or any Amphib HQs, or any LCI(R) and other handy ships that are pretty critical to contested landings. I'm not ready for that.

A good thing about the Solomons is that I can use Rat Navy; PTs and Barges, shipping that is completely expendible, so it's easy to hazard them on small moves. PTs guard every base, and barges make quick landings. Works well.

Au Revoir:

I am out now through Easter on a trip to Paris and London. Taking the family, and we're going to ride on the Eurostar through the Chunnel, which should be fun, as well as all the other stuff.

Keep commenting in my absence, otherwise this will fall to page 3!

Later!

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RE: Au Revoir - 3/22/2013 3:59:03 AM

PaxMondo

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Enjoy your trip!

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RE: Au Revoir - 3/22/2013 6:38:57 AM

DOCUP

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Have a safe trip. Be good and take pics. lol

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RE: Au Revoir - 3/22/2013 8:28:22 AM

JocMeister

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Have fun! We will keep you on the front page!

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RE: Au Revoir - 3/22/2013 9:43:40 AM

obvert

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Au Revoir:

I am out now through Easter on a trip to Paris and London. Taking the family, and we're going to ride on the Eurostar through the Chunnel, which should be fun, as well as all the other stuff.

Keep commenting in my absence, otherwise this will fall to page 3!

Later!

Not sure if you'll get this before you go off, but if you want to meet up in London for a pint or something let me know. I could offer an interesting more local tour for the family while you're over here as well.

Here's an interesting site for WW2 History in London.
http://bombsight.org/#13/51.5050/-0.0900

I'm sure it's on your list, but the HMS Belfast is a good day out with the kids as well, and right next to the other sights.

let me know if you need other tips or things to do with the kids. Or just where to get a good coffee or pint.

Erik

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RE: Au Revoir - 3/22/2013 10:28:45 AM

fcharton

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And in Paris, you might want to visit the Navy Museum (http://www.musee-marine.fr/paris.html), which is on the Trocadero square, next to the Eiffel tower, they have very nice models of many ships (including ancient admiralty models), and the Musee des Plans Reliefs, which is inside the Army museum (in the Invalides), which has scale models of fortifications (http://www.museedesplansreliefs.culture.fr/).

If you have young children and are able to travel south of paris, Guedelon is a must : they are building a medieval castle there, using the techniques of the time (http://www.guedelon.fr/)

Francois

< Message edited by fcharton -- 3/22/2013 10:34:29 AM >

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RE: Au Revoir - 3/23/2013 10:12:34 AM

JocMeister

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Sooo...How is the trip going?

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RE: Au Revoir - 3/31/2013 7:00:27 PM

DOCUP

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Bump from page 2

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RE: Au Revoir - 4/2/2013 7:29:45 PM

Q-Ball

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7-16-43 to 7-20-43

Thanks for the comments while I was out....and I'm BACK! It was a great trip, I didn't have time for the naval museums or anything war related. With wife and kids, it's about the big sites: Versailles, Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Notre Dame, Tower of London, Nat. Gallery, British Museum, etc. etc. etc. Plus, the food.

I'm partial to French food, but I think the best meal I had on the trip was in London, at St. John Restaurant near Smithfield Market. They specialize in modern updates to meaty British Fare. Yummy!

Anyway, back to the war:

Molu:

The IJN visited Molu in a big way, bombarding the place with 5 BBs and cruisers, supported by Carriers. This is most of the IJN. The purpose, other than flattening Molu, looks like it was to resupply Samlauki.

The bombardments flattened about 100 of my fighters on the ground, and sank some small shipping (about 20 PTs, 4 AKLs, nothing big, which was the point). They also ran supplies to Samlauki.

Again, my 100 DBs at Bathurst didn't fly, it's getting to be a broken record. We'll give it another shot tomorrow.

This disrupts my plans of getting 32nd Infantry to Samlauki. It could be we have a stalemate here, which suits me as long as the IJN is tied-down.

Torokina:

With the IJN clearly elsewhere, we are moving on Torokina, and I don't see how we can be stopped. For good measure, I am adding a landing at Green Island, while the IJN is gone. We may as well make him pay!

All of my CVs will support the operation, so I don't foresee problems, as I also have piles of LBA around Torokina from 4 airbases. This should be a safe landing. Famous last words, right?

Otherwise, we occupied Kiriwina, so we are building a cluster of airbases now off the tip of NG.

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RE: Au Revoir - 4/3/2013 8:05:18 PM

obvert

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quote:

I'm partial to French food, but I think the best meal I had on the trip was in London, at St. John Restaurant near Smithfield Market. They specialize in modern updates to meaty British Fare. Yummy!

Well found! That's one of my favorites, introduced to me by my girlfriend on our first date, so good memories as well.

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RE: Au Revoir - 4/4/2013 8:35:07 AM

veji1

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quote:

ORIGINAL: obvert

quote:

I'm partial to French food, but I think the best meal I had on the trip was in London, at St. John Restaurant near Smithfield Market. They specialize in modern updates to meaty British Fare. Yummy!

Well found! That's one of my favorites, introduced to me by my girlfriend on our first date, so good memories as well.

Ah memories... They have a second restaurant on Spitalfields market as well. As I quite like Offals, having a place almost specialising in them was quite awesome. Anyway London is now a "cuisine" capital. I am french and I would say that although in countrytowns restaurants and everyday home life the french still eat and cook way better than the Brits, in London and all the upmarket gastropubs man can find in "affluent" areas like the Cotswolds, Dorset and such one can eat really really well. London is probably the only city in the world where you can find any type of cuisine.

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Greyjoy Out-Posts - 4/4/2013 8:18:24 PM

Capt. Harlock

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Tsk, tsk, you're falling behind. Especially, I'm eager to hear your side of the July 23 turn.

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RE: Greyjoy Out-Posts - 4/5/2013 3:51:22 AM

Q-Ball

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7-21-43 to 7-23-42

Capt. Horlock's request for updated must mean Greyjoy posted something on it....he definitely had a frowny face on the e-mail he sent!

London: Interesting that others know St. John, though Fergus Henderson is kind of famous. We went back Saturday and ate in the bar, which has the same food as the restaurant, mostly.

I know it's old fashioned, but we also went to Simpson's in the Strand; my wife went there as a kid 30 years ago. I have to say it was VERY good. Awesome roast beef, and the puddings were very good.

Best meal in France may have been Le Soufflet....guess what they specialize in? It was good!

Molu:

IJN BBs trashed Molu again. If this is a pattern, I'm probably going to have to abandon this effort. I don't think he can kick me off it, but I am stalled there.

This isn't all bad, because to keep it closed, he is going to need to keep the IJN around there. So, either a) they'll be pinned for a long time, or b) eventually I'll be able to move

Treasury Islands:

Here, Greyjoy sent a TF of MUSASHI, MUTSU, and YAMASHIRO, plus DDs, to bombard the Treasury Islands. Something got screwed up though, because they tangled with PTs, then loitered there during the day. Not what Greyjoy wanted, I bet!

We really peppered them with bombs, but no heavy damage, and only MUTSU caught fire; she was hit by at least 18 1000lb bombs, I would hope for more damage with those, but many bounced. Sadly, I had no torp bombers around. We did sink a DD instantly from a single 1000lb hit...BOOM!

So, we have subs in the way to Rabaul hoping we get lucky, and I am bringing in the CVs. They were hiding in the dark near Lunga, but we are charging ahead, because I don't think he knows they are there (otherwise, I highly doubt he would have attempted this bombardment). If we are lucky, those BBs are slow enough to be caught at sea. If that happens, we should sink something.....

Greyjoy has lost 4-5 more DDs lately; he has lost close to 40 modern ones, which is alot.

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Solomons Turkey Shoot - 4/5/2013 5:03:43 PM

Q-Ball

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From: Chicago, Illinois
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7-25-43

Greyjoy unfortunately had to leave for Paris without sending the turn, but he did send me the replay, and said "go ahead and salivate while I am gone!" He chose to attack my landing at Torokina, and the result was pretty much a turkey shoot.

UPDATE: Greyjoy confirmed that he lost 500 planes, and 320 pilots. That's alot! Though Japan can build plenty more of both...

I am only including combat reports that went the worst for me; aside from these, there were maybe 10 or so that were Japanese attack planes getting shot down, with no Allied losses:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Torokina at 109,130, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Kamikaze, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Asanagi, Shell hits 3, on fire

Allied Ships
BB Tennessee
BB Idaho, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1
BB Mississippi, Shell hits 1
DD Anthony
DD Aulick
DD Philip
DD Pringle
DD Renshaw
DD Stanly, Shell hits 1

That kinda sucks, IDAHO took a torp hit, and will probably need some yard time. My yards always seemed clogged with BBs, including CALIFORNIA, still repairing damage from the Pearl Harbor attack.

Another instance, some unescorted Vals somehow broke through; it looks like I will lose about 4 LSTs from this:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Torokina at 109,130

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D3A1 Val x 43

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 46

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 4 destroyed, 5 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
LCI-62, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LST-16, Bomb hits 1, on fire
LST-472, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
LST-23, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AKA Oberon, Bomb hits 1
LST-28
LCI-22
LST-335, Bomb hits 1, on fire
APA Cambria, Bomb hits 2
LST-468, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
LST-31, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires

They had already unloaded though

That's it; the rest of the combats were George, Zero, Jill, Judy, Francis, Betty getting shot down by lots of Hellcats, plus Wildcats, P-40, P-38, Corsairs, everybody.

The combat report indicates 275 Japanese planes lost (real tally might be higher), and I lost 9.

So, that invasion is ashore, and we should be in good shape going forward here. I landed 2 Australian Divisions, an HQ, 1 Tank Regt, a Boat/Shore Bn, and Artillery Bn. We are oppossed by a force built around a Nav Gd, and 1/3 of a division. This should fall pretty fast.

< Message edited by Q-Ball -- 4/5/2013 6:56:35 PM >

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RE: Solomons Turkey Shoot - 4/9/2013 7:33:49 PM

Q-Ball

Posts: 7336
Joined: 6/25/2002
From: Chicago, Illinois
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7-26-43 to 7-27-43

There was additional action off Torokina; sort of a mixed bag all around, though the big news is the sinking of MUSASHI.

Battle of Torokina: NIGHT Phase:

A Japanese TF consisting of MUSASHI, YAMASHIRO, a couple CLs and DDs attacked the landing site at Torokina. I had already withdrawn all APA and AKA, so the remaining ships were xAP or barges, mostly unloading supplies. I had a TF of 4 DDs there, and scheduled a TF to get there at night, around INDIANA, WASHINGTON, and DDs.

The IJN trashed the transports, sinking 4 xAP, 4 LST, 2 DD, and numerous LCT barges. Nothing huge.

Then, they ran into INDIANA and friends. INDIANA pumped several penetrating 16in hits into MUSASHI, leaving her in flams and in sinking condition (Greyjoy confirmed via e-mail she sank!). INDIANA was damaged, but only 14 major float; really light considering she ate a couple 18-in shells. WASHINGTON was unscathed.

So, we sank our first major IJN unit....really late in the game to be saying that, but at least it's a good one. MUSASHI is no more.

Day Phase, Next Day:

Before I knew Musashi was sunk, I ordered a CA TF to intercept on the way to Rabaul. Of course, they lingered too close during the day, so it looks like I will lose CA NEW ORLEANS. Drat! That was dumb. She is still floating, so I at least hope to make him lose another 100 a/c or so sinking her; he lost 40 today just getting those 2 torps in.

Total Damage, Last few Days:

Allies:
SUNK: 4 x AP, 8 LST, 3 DD, 1 CVE (sunk this day), and probably CA New Orleans
DAMAGED: WASP (light; 60 days or so), INDIANA (medium; 3 mo), and St Louis (still in danger; not sure yet)
A/C: About 40 total

Japan:
SUNK: MUSASHI, 3 DDs or so
DAMAGED: MUTSU (pretty heavy), YAMASHIRO (Light-Medium)
A/C: Over 550

I don't think it's a huge victory or anything, he can replace the aircraft. I hate losing another CVE and CA, I've lost too many of both. But MUSASHI is nice, and he's lost tons of DDs, (well over 35 modern ones). I also won't be seeing MUTSU likely until 1944 or so, when it won't matter as much

The landing at Torokina went smoothly; everyone is ashore, and the first attack dropped the forts. We should have it in a week or so.

What's Next:

He's probably bringing KB over to the Solomons. Not sure I am ready for that yet, though CV CONSTELLATION and 2 CVLs are about to join the main fleet, and CV CONGRESS is not far behind, with 2 more CVLs. I will seek battle, but only if I have equal or greater LBA, which Greyjoy is not going to challenge.

I really woudl like to shut down Rabaul. The port is mined, so bombardments would expose my BBs to mine hits. There are 300+ fighters there, so bombing would be too expensive. I'll probably get P-47s and P-38s together and start occasional sweeps.

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RE: Solomons Turkey Shoot - 4/9/2013 8:19:04 PM

JocMeister

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From: Sweden
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If you want to close Rabaul use 10-15 squadrons of Corsairs and P47s followed by 200 4Es. Done deal.

Question is if its worth the losses you will suffer? My opponent stacked up high in Rabaul (700+ AC). Wasn�t too big of a problem as long as I had a good sized CAP up over most things I wanted to keep afloat. Kind of handy knowing where he were in fact...

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RE: Solomons Turkey Shoot - 4/13/2013 5:21:45 PM

Q-Ball

Posts: 7336
Joined: 6/25/2002
From: Chicago, Illinois
Status: offline

7-29 to 8-7-43:

I haven't posted in a few days mostly because I've been getting my butt kicked. My morale is a bit down, because I haven't played well at all, and made some really dumb mistakes.

First, KB shows up and sinks 5 cruisers off Rekata Bay. I had no CAP at all over them, which was just careless on my part. Really dumb. No excuse for it.

Then, I lost 2 CVEs because I messed-up orders, and left them exposed to his CVs. Again, good job on Greyjoy's part taking advantage of my bad moves, that's what good players do. But I lost those for no reason, other than I suck.

Greyjoy is doing a really great job on defense, and I am playing into his traps every time

Need Help:

Finally, I lost another 8 attack transports off Green Island. This one really hurt, because it was actually a trap I set, where he took the bait and ran. I would actually like to know from the gallery how this one happened:

1. I set 5 BBs to "Retire", and be at Green Island at night. (I didn't want to expose them to air attacks from Rabaul)
2. I left my CVs close enough to sink anything short of Rabaul; range was set to JUST short of Rabaul, as I didn't want to get chewed-up by the CAP there

Somehow, his BB TF misssed my night TFs, arrived during the day, sank all the transports, and made it back to Rabaul before the AM air phase. How did he do that?

We had a sync bug at the same time, so the replay I saw (which wasn't valid due to bug), resulted in the entire IJN TF being sunk by BBs and air with minimal loss to me.

Fortunes of war so I accept the result, I just need to know how you can hit something during the day and escape air attacks.

Playing Allies:

At this point, I feel I have lost the game. I will likely destroy the IJN, but doing that in 1944 will feel like "well, that's supposed to happen". I played very well in 1942, and Greyjoy didn't advance very far at all, but since then I've been outplayed completely from a tactical standpoint. I've taken stupid risks, and lost way too many ships.

Playing Allies is way easier than Japan. You can make piles of mistakes, as I have done, and still be fine. I have plenty of DDs, and my CVs are basically intact, so I can recover from losing so many APA and cruisers simply through production.

In my defense, I haven't done anything remotely gamey, like Cap traps; 200 fighters over APA or BB or other isn't a CAP trap. 200 fighters over an xAPc is. And while I have shot down over 1000 a/c in the last week, it wasn't "cheapies". I lost alot of ships.

Anyway, I need to recover morale to continue, but it sucks when you get outplayed so badly.

Next Steps:

The silver lining I guess is that we are moving really fast in the Solomons. I anticipate clearing Papua NG and being in position to strike the Mariannas by end of 1943. Problem will be lack of APA, but I'll have the bases and airpower built.

Oh well, I guess we'll keep going and crush the Empire; all is not lost as long as I have all my CVs, and I have those.

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< Message edited by Q-Ball -- 4/13/2013 6:26:39 PM >

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RE: Solomons Turkey Shoot - 4/13/2013 6:32:25 PM

Q-Ball

Posts: 7336
Joined: 6/25/2002
From: Chicago, Illinois
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PS: The contingencies to recover from my losses are these:

1. Bringing together remaining assult shipping to at least lift 2 divisions or so. I have several under repair as well. We will likely have to us AP as well; US does start getting alot of those soon. By spring 1944, I should be fine here, especially with the piles of LCI/LST coming

2. Lack of assault transports can be mitigated by travelling short distances with LST/LCI. So a sail from Pearl to Mariannas is not possible, because troops would be too tired. this is why I have to secure the NG coast.

3. I can cover for the lack of cruisers, or will have to, via DDs, like all the FLetchers. I have not lost that many DDs, so I am in good shape here.

4. BBs: I am getting BBs back from yard, so I have numerical superiority there. Getting the Iowas will help even more.

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