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RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Patience, and Firepower

 
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RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/11/2016 4:58:14 PM   
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Bif1961
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It would make sense he fights to and nail in DEI since you are so close to major oilfields while he expended little to defend the SoPac attacks. When you prevail in DEI it will be the beginning of the end since it will signal his losing access to his oilfields.

(in reply to KenchiSulla)
Post #: 271
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/11/2016 7:20:52 PM   
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Sangeli
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Bif1961
It would make sense he fights to and nail in DEI since you are so close to major oilfields while he expended little to defend the SoPac attacks. When you prevail in DEI it will be the beginning of the end since it will signal his losing access to his oilfields.

Very true. Oil is very important.

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Post #: 272
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/11/2016 7:40:50 PM   
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Sangeli
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April 2nd 1944

Having landed enough troops at Boela to take the base, I decided to pull my navy back save for a cruiser fleet which I sent to bombard Ternate. They didn't actually bombard the base because they encountered Japanese ships:



quote:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Batjan at 78,105, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Hatsuharu
DD Ariake
DD Akatsuki, Shell hits 1
DD Isonami, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
CA Northampton
CA Canberra II, Shell hits 2
CL Richmond, Shell hits 1
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 2
CL Columbia
DD DeHaven, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Picking
DD Pringle
DD Remey
DD Gansevoort, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Frankford, Shell hits 1

Improved night sighting under 71% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 71% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 24,000 yards...
Range closes to 18,000 yards...
Range closes to 12,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards


Not a very good outing for my cruiser fleet as once again radar failed to detect the Japanese at range. But they would redeem themselves against those IJN destroyers:

quote:

ght Time Surface Combat, near Batjan at 78,105, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Hatsuharu, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
DD Ariake
DD Akatsuki, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Isonami, Shell hits 14, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Northampton
CA Canberra II
CL Richmond
CL Marblehead
CL Columbia, Shell hits 1
DD DeHaven, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Picking
DD Pringle
DD Remey, Shell hits 1
DD Frankford

Improved night sighting under 71% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 71% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 24,000 yards...
Range closes to 18,000 yards...
Range closes to 12,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Batjan at 78,104, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Ariake, Shell hits 18, and is sunk
DD Akatsuki, Shell hits 9, and is sunk


Allied Ships
CA Northampton
CA Canberra II, Shell hits 1
CL Richmond
CL Marblehead
CL Columbia
DD DeHaven, heavy fires
DD Picking
DD Pringle
DD Remey
DD Frankford, on fire

Improved night sighting under 71% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 71% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 24,000 yards...
Range closes to 18,000 yards...
Range closes to 12,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards
Allies open fire on surprised Japanese ships at 8,000 yards


Even though they smashed the IJN fleet here, the performance of my radar was abysmal. Three encounters with the Japanese and not once did my radar detect them. Pretty pathetic.

After destroying this fleet, they encountered a convoy unloading at Ternate:

quote:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Ternate at 78,102, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Kenkon Maru, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
PB Taiko Maru, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
xAK Ume Maru, Shell hits 21, and is sunk
xAK Yuzan Maru, Shell hits 29, and is sunk
xAK Yosida Maru #3, Shell hits 28, and is sunk


Allied Ships
CA Northampton
CA Canberra II
CL Richmond
CL Marblehead
CL Columbia, Shell hits 1
DD DeHaven, heavy fires
DD Picking
DD Pringle
DD Remey
DD Frankford, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
3127 casualties reported
Squads: 68 destroyed, 89 disabled
Non Combat: 89 destroyed, 42 disabled
Engineers: 17 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 74 (47 destroyed, 27 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (5 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway
Improved night sighting under 71% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 71% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 27,000 yards...
Range closes to 24,000 yards...
Range closes to 21,000 yards...
Range closes to 18,000 yards...
Range closes to 15,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 15,000 yards


This time radar worked and I easily sunk all ships and passengers onboard.

My subs also helped out today:

quote:

Sub attack near Tockangbesi-eilanden at 71,109

Japanese Ships
CA Iwaki, Torpedo hits 2
DD Samidare
DD Urakaze

Allied Ships
SS Sealion, hits 1


Doubtful the CA Iwaki is sunk but as I've mentioned before, putting a ship into the shipyard for months is almost as good at this point.

And Boela fell easily on the first attack:

quote:

Ground combat at Boela (80,110)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 19226 troops, 497 guns, 207 vehicles, Assault Value = 660

Defending force 2710 troops, 41 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 58

Allied adjusted assault: 1026

Japanese adjusted defense: 19

Allied assault odds: 54 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Boela !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
761 casualties reported
Squads: 21 destroyed, 49 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 38 (3 destroyed, 35 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
168 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled

Assaulting units:
I Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
1st Marine Division
30th Australian Brigade
4th Field Artillery Battalion
I Australian Corps
Wake (Det.) Defense Battalion
131st Field Artillery Battalion
12th Marine Defense Battalion
98th Field Artillery Battalion
2nd RAA Jungle Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
1st Para Assault/A Division
1st Naval Construction Battalion
108th JAAF AF Bn


< Message edited by Sangeli -- 8/11/2016 7:41:44 PM >

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Post #: 273
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/11/2016 7:46:25 PM   
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Sangeli
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April 3rd 1944

Relatively quiet day but my subs crippled another Japanese cruiser:

quote:

Sub attack near Talaud-eilanden at 78,97

Japanese Ships
CL Noshiro, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Gudgeon


The IJN cruiser fleet is starting to bleed in the DEI. Over the last week or so I've counted 5 IJN cruisers that have been sunk or taken heavy damage requiring shipyard repairs. Hard to say exactly now my cruisers the Japanese have operational but I would be surprised if it were more than 15.

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Post #: 274
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/11/2016 7:48:52 PM   
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jwolf
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Disappointing start for your surface fleet but they more than redeemed themselves by the end. I guess it was too dangerous for the Japanese to send any bigger warships?

Edit: in view of your latest post maybe the Japs were trying to send 1 or 2 cruisers but your subs got them first?

< Message edited by jwolf -- 8/11/2016 7:50:06 PM >

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Post #: 275
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/11/2016 8:06:22 PM   
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Sangeli
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quote:

ORIGINAL: jwolf

Disappointing start for your surface fleet but they more than redeemed themselves by the end. I guess it was too dangerous for the Japanese to send any bigger warships?

Edit: in view of your latest post maybe the Japs were trying to send 1 or 2 cruisers but your subs got them first?


Given that a transport fleet was unloading at Ternate, I find it more likely to believe that Rev Rico didn't think I would sortie my cruisers in that direction. His cruisers have been bombarding Timor recently but other than that I'm not sure what he's planning on using them for. And speaking of those bombardments, I have sent a large Fletcher TF to guard Lautem against bombardment. It won't have dedicated air cover but Fletchers seem to do alright even without it.

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Post #: 276
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/13/2016 11:37:59 PM   
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Sangeli
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April 4th 1944

Today had some ups and some downs. It started off well by putting a torpedo into the CV Kaga:



But later the remaining CVs launched some effective attacks against a cruiser fleet of mine:

quote:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kai-eilanden at 81,115

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 152 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 50 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B6N1 Jill x 36
B6N2 Jill x 18
D4Y1 Judy x 12
D4Y3 Judy x 23
N1K2-J George x 103

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 9
P-40K Warhawk x 13
P-40N1 Warhawk x 10
P-40N5 Warhawk x 13
F6F-3 Hellcat x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N1 Jill: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
B6N1 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak
B6N2 Jill: 2 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak
D4Y3 Judy: 7 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak
N1K2-J George: 8 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed
P-40N1 Warhawk: 1 destroyed
P-40N5 Warhawk: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CA Shropshire, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK M. H. De Young
CA New Orleans, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Dunlap
PC Ariadne, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Swanson
DD Walke
DD Downes


The CA New Orleans would sink while the CA Shropshire limped away.

(in reply to Sangeli)
Post #: 277
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/14/2016 9:01:01 AM   
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KenchiSulla
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Any indication of damage to Kaga? In my experience it could be anything from 1 to 20 major float...

_____________________________

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"It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say. It can happen, and it can happen everywhere.”
¯ Primo Levi, writer, holocaust survivor

(in reply to Sangeli)
Post #: 278
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/14/2016 11:53:51 PM   
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Sangeli
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quote:

ORIGINAL: KenchiSulla
Any indication of damage to Kaga? In my experience it could be anything from 1 to 20 major float...

No idea.

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Post #: 279
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/15/2016 12:05:33 AM   
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Sangeli
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April 5th 1944

Today was a big day. I launched an all out attack on Kendari's air base and port. First it was proceeded by a pair of bombardments:

quote:

Night Naval bombardment of Kendari at 70,106 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 59 damaged
N1K1-J George: 4 destroyed on ground
Ki-84a Frank: 363 damaged
Ki-84a Frank: 8 destroyed on ground
N1K2-J George: 128 damaged
N1K2-J George: 5 destroyed on ground

11 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CL Cleveland
CL Nashville
CL Phoenix
CL St. Louis
CL Leander
DD Worden
DD Clark
DD Gridley
DD Halligan
DD Gatling

Japanese ground losses:
475 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 43 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled

Airbase hits 63
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 134


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Kendari at 70,106 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-84a Frank: 44 damaged
Ki-84a Frank: 5 destroyed on ground
N1K1-J George: 36 damaged
N1K2-J George: 36 damaged
N1K2-J George: 1 destroyed on ground

30 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
DD Wickes
DD Taylor
DD Strong
DD Stembel
DD Stanly
DD Sproston
DD Spence
DD Sigsbee
DD Caperton
DD Bush
DD Bullard
DD Black

Japanese ground losses:
122 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 50


That smashed the air base enough such that CAP would not fly. I sent every 4E to hit the air base and all my carrier aircraft to attack the port. It was truly devastating:

quote:

Afternoon Air attack on Kendari , at 70,106

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 96
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 30
SBD-5 Dauntless x 110
TBF-1 Avenger x 114
TBM-1C Avenger x 16

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 3 damaged
SBD-5 Dauntless: 20 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 8 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Iwaki, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Tone, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
SS I-121, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Heiei Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Hitati Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 1
E Aguni, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Nitian Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PB Kure Maru #5, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

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

Port hits 8



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Kendari , at 70,106

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 89
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 27
SBD-5 Dauntless x 25
TBF-1 Avenger x 40
TBM-1C Avenger x 16

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 2 damaged
SBD-5 Dauntless: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Tone, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Kiyozumi Maru, Bomb hits 1
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Naruto Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Liverpool Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Port fuel hits 1



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Kendari , at 70,106

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 29,690 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4U-1A Corsair x 35
F6F-3 Hellcat x 31
SBD-5 Dauntless x 12
TBF-1 Avenger x 16

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 2 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Iwaki, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 1, on fire



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Kendari , at 70,106

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 62 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 14

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Tone, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Port hits 1



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Kendari , at 70,106

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 68 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Allied aircraft
SBD-5 Dauntless x 27

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 4 damaged
SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Tyoyo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Tone, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

Port hits 1


That's a really big coup for me to take out those IJN CAs sitting in port without any real losses. And to add insult to injury, my subs put a torp in another BB:



The Japanese fleet is melting away. Given my previous losses at Koepang, this whole DEI is turning into a bloody affair for both of us. The difference of course is that I can replace my losses :)

The air war today was as lopsided as every. Most of the 100+ planes at Kendari were destroyed on the ground. With PDU on, inflicting high losses on advanced fighters will prevent more Japanese squadrons from being equipped with them. I have more ideas on this for later...

< Message edited by Sangeli -- 8/15/2016 12:06:28 AM >

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Post #: 280
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/15/2016 7:12:33 AM   
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BBfanboy
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Nicely done! Well executed plan.
Can you estimate how many cruisers sank from the float plane ground losses?

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RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/15/2016 3:13:06 PM   
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jwolf
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Great job at Kendari, looks like everything went according to plan!

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Post #: 282
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/15/2016 6:32:53 PM   
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Sangeli
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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
Nicely done! Well executed plan.
Can you estimate how many cruisers sank from the float plane ground losses?

quote:

ORIGINAL: jwolf
Great job at Kendari, looks like everything went according to plan!

Thanks! Yes, everything went according to plan. The Japanese left all their ships in Kendari, provided no LRCAP, and left no surface groups to protect against bombardment. It was a simple thing to bombard the base and hit it with 500 bombers.

Unfortunately I destroyed so many planes on the ground that day, I simply cannot tell which ones were aboard ship! Ships often can accrue significant sys damage from bombs in port but do not sink. So even if I didn't sink all three, its safe to say they will all be out for a long time. And at this later date, being out for 6 months is just about as good as being out of the war.

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Post #: 283
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/15/2016 7:49:41 PM   
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KenchiSulla
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Even if they did not sink, he won't be able to get them out.. Ships with high system damage are almost impossible to safely transport to a repair yard.... Good strike, nice work

_____________________________

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"It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say. It can happen, and it can happen everywhere.”
¯ Primo Levi, writer, holocaust survivor

(in reply to Sangeli)
Post #: 284
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/15/2016 8:20:43 PM   
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Sangeli
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quote:

ORIGINAL: KenchiSulla
Even if they did not sink, he won't be able to get them out.. Ships with high system damage are almost impossible to safely transport to a repair yard.... Good strike, nice work

Exactly. Might want to pay the port another visit with my 4E just to check.

Now I'm wondering what ships of the IJN are left operational. It very well might be only a large combined surface group led by the BB Yamato and the remnants of the KB. But the Japanese have pulled back from the eastern DEI, probably never to return. Definitely a good thing because I'm actually running rather low on cruisers that can cover my fleets.

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Post #: 285
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/15/2016 9:12:14 PM   
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jwolf
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Under the circumstances, it's probably worth it for the Japanese to try to pull out the (crippled?) cruisers from Kendari as they have nothing much to lose. But their odds of survival are very low.

Your operation at Kendari -- and the threat of the same at other bases -- should unlock most of the Celebes/Moluccas area for you. Maybe even more.

(in reply to Sangeli)
Post #: 286
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/16/2016 6:07:16 PM   
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Sangeli
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quote:

ORIGINAL: jwolf
Under the circumstances, it's probably worth it for the Japanese to try to pull out the (crippled?) cruisers from Kendari as they have nothing much to lose. But their odds of survival are very low.

Whatever was there has since burned up in port or left. No matter...the war goes on!
quote:

ORIGINAL: jwolf
Your operation at Kendari -- and the threat of the same at other bases -- should unlock most of the Celebes/Moluccas area for you. Maybe even more.

Yes, but progress will be slower after the next phase of landings currently underway. Some of the LCUs have begun planning for targets elsewhere. Furthermore, supply issues are really starting to bug me. Forward bases are not getting the supply they need because I'm so short of cargo ships in the region. Boela, for example, was taken about a week ago but is still inoperable as a base because I don't have enough supply there.

The main priority in the eastern DEI is to break out north into the open ocean towards Palau while anchoring my left flank at Kendari. The idea is to shorten my supply lines by opening a supply on the northern half of Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately, the Japanese have recently reinforced Sorong and I may need to divert more LCUs to take that key base on the western tip of the island.

In the background I am preparing my enormous summer 1944 offensive. I have units all over the world getting prepped for those invasions. I think I have like 14 divisions with numerous smaller LCUs being earmarked for the offensive. No way I have enough of the specialized assault ships (APAs, LSD, LSL(I), etc) to carry all those troops. Luckily, I have a few APs that have a capacity of 5,000 troops. As long as I'm not landing on an atoll, those should be almost as good.

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RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/16/2016 6:28:28 PM   
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jwolf
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quote:

In the background I am preparing my enormous summer 1944 offensive.


Granted this may be 2 or 3 months ahead ... but it sounds really good. Can't wait to see things unfold once you get there.

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RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/16/2016 6:53:09 PM   
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Sangeli
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quote:

ORIGINAL: jwolf
quote:

In the background I am preparing my enormous summer 1944 offensive.

Granted this may be 2 or 3 months ahead ... but it sounds really good. Can't wait to see things unfold once you get there.

I've been planning this OP since the beginning of 1944. It's really going to be something else once its underway. I hope to set a new standard of Allied operations with that offensive.

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RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/17/2016 5:55:40 AM   
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CaptBeefheart
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xAPs and xAKs do fine for invasions in areas like the DEI and NG, as long as you have air and surface superiority and can park them for a few days.

Cheers,
CC

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RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/17/2016 5:45:05 PM   
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Sangeli
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Commander Cody
xAPs and xAKs do fine for invasions in areas like the DEI and NG, as long as you have air and surface superiority and can park them for a few days.

Cheers,
CC

I actually disagree with you here. I've used xAPs and XAKs aplenty in invasions. As long as there are no CD guns its fine, but as soon as there is even a single CD unit then the unloading xAPs and xAKs are unsuitable. I've lost dozens upon dozens of xAPs and xAPs to CD guns while the fast unloading assault ships have only rarely been hit and none sunk to my memory.

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Post #: 291
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/17/2016 6:33:18 PM   
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BillBrown
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I have run into the same problem with assault shipping myself. I used xAP/xAKs to move my third - fourth - etc landing troops to the newly captured bases and then reused the assault shipping to actually invade.

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Post #: 292
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/17/2016 7:16:57 PM   
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Sangeli
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quote:

ORIGINAL: BillBrown
I have run into the same problem with assault shipping myself. I used xAP/xAKs to move my third - fourth - etc landing troops to the newly captured bases and then reused the assault shipping to actually invade.

Yup, that's basically my plan. Since I probably won't have enough assault ships for all my first wave units, I will probably have to use xAPs and xAKs to land first wave units on beaches I think are free of CD guns.

The more and more I think about this summer operation the more daunting logistics seem. With 10 divisions in the first wave I probably need 100,000 troop capacity and 200,000 cargo capacity. There's absolutely no way I can fit that all on assault ships and APs. On top of that, I'll probably need another 200,000 troop and 600,000 cargo capacity for the other LCUs, support units, reserves, and supply. Efficiently managing all these ships loading up troops scattered throughout the Pacific will likely the the most daunting task I have ever faced in my years of playing this game. I have little doubt it will prove more difficult than the actual landings themselves! But if I can pull it off, it's going to be beautiful.

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Post #: 293
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/23/2016 8:27:06 PM   
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Sangeli
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April 15th, 1944

I did some analysis of troop carrying capacity a few days ago. I counted rough 45 assault type ships that probably have an average troop capacity of about 1500. That's nearly 70,000 troops which is not enough to carry all my 10 divisions that should be landing on D-Day. xAPs will have to carry a number of divisions to make up the difference. Debating if I should simply hold them back as a reserve or send them into the fray and just hope for the best. In any case, managing all these ships is going to be a nightmare. Where are my staff officers? Turns are taking upwards of 90 minutes not including the 20 minute replay. Probably doesn't help I'm micromanaging dozens small convoys of 1-4 ships in the DEI because the ports are so small. I've even halted a lot of airfield construction to build up the ports instead. Though I think I finally hit a turning point with supply; now Darwin's supply is going up quickly and now it's over 200k. I have around 20 or so LSTs in the DEI that will ferry supply from Darwin to forward bases now that I have a good supply margin to work with.


On a related note, I finally took Koepang after nearly 10 attacks:

quote:

Ground combat at Koepang (68,116)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 15540 troops, 248 guns, 461 vehicles, Assault Value = 508

Defending force 8312 troops, 74 guns, 85 vehicles, Assault Value = 13

Allied adjusted assault: 167

Japanese adjusted defense: 41

Allied assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Koepang !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
3305 casualties reported
Squads: 173 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 157 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 23 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 55 (55 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 73 (73 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 5

Allied ground losses:
109 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Units pursuing 2

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
8th Australian Division
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
34th Combat Engineer Regiment
159th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
147th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
7th RAA Coastal Artillery Regiment
141st USA Base Force

Defending units:
12th Garrison Unit
18th Garrison Unit
7th ADU Coastal Gun Regiment
1st Ind. Engineer Regiment
12th JAAF Base Force


If I am going to keep pushing forward in the DEI, I will need to quickly build up some of these Timor bases because Darwin is too remote.

Overall, things are going pretty well in the DEI. The Japanese fleet has withdrawn out of patrol plane range. The Japanese are still putting fighters in the sky within fighter and we're fighting some fierce air battles. I'm only coming out slightly ahead with P-38s but the P-47s cut through Japanese CAP like butter. I'm also destroying significant numbers of planes on the ground whenever I win air battle over a heavily defended base. I think I am reaching a point where Japanese fighter production is going to be strained with some of the advanced fighter types as they are taking the brunt of the casualties. The Japanese might even be forced to downgrade some of their squadrons for lack of air frames, especially the Ki-84a Frank which has seen the heaviest losses. I'm still encountering the Ki-44-IIc and Ki-61 so clearly the IJA is not able to equip all its squadrons with Franks (yet).


Burma things are quiet. Just bombing and bombarding while I wait for units to recover and two more divisions reach the line. At this point starving them out is my best option and my bombers have made short work of any and all convoys headed to Burma. Vengeance dive bombers have been particularly deadly in an anti-shipping role as they carry 2x500 lb and 2x250 lb bombs. Even so, the Japanese seem to have reinforced Rangoon with LCUs already in Burma. I estimate maybe 3500 AV in Rangoon. My plan is to use my division to get the fort to level 0 and bring all my small LCUs in for a final shock attack to get a 2-1 AV ratio. If I can pull this off by July 1944 I will consider myself lucky.

Not much else to speak of. SoPac is dead aside from the occasional CAP trap and unsuccessful small surprise naval strikes from small airbases. No convoys are coming here so hopefully supply will run so low as to make those missions impossible.

(in reply to Sangeli)
Post #: 294
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/24/2016 6:57:24 PM   
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Sangeli
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April 16th, 1943

The current situation at Rangoon:

quote:

Ground combat at Rangoon (54,53)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 4758 troops, 366 guns, 258 vehicles, Assault Value = 3186

Defending force 92295 troops, 1062 guns, 1108 vehicles, Assault Value = 3228

Japanese ground losses:
59 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (2 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Assaulting units:
Provisionl Tank
2nd British Division
6th Australian Division
14th Indian Division
25th Indian Division
7th Australian Division
19th Indian Division
5th Indian Division
2/11th Field Regiment
6th Mixed A/T Mtr Regiment
1st Medium Regiment
14th Army
2/13th Field Regiment
X' Force
31st Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
97th Field Artillery Battalion
30th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
28th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
29th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
8th Medium Regiment
26th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
2/9th Field Regiment
33rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
2nd Tank Division
21st Division
5th Division
20th Division
8th Division
2nd Division
14th Division
1st RTA Division
23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
1st RF Gun Battalion
28th Army
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
10th RF Gun Battalion


Finishing up this battle is going to be extremely difficult. It seems my months of air bombing have done almost nothing to hurt the Japanese here. Currently I am preparing an amphibious operation to land at Port Blair. I'm awaiting CVEs which were sent from the west coast to Aden. Hopefully I can kick it off within three weeks. I have about three divisions prepped for the task. The goal is to tighten the noose around the Burma siege while threatening the Burmese coast next to Thailand. Actually landing on that coast is another matter, however. I have a further two African divisions in reserve but both are poorly equipped. So I'm asking the readers what makes the most sense:

1. Prep for a landing at Tavoy. If successful, it would allow me to cut the Japanese in Burma off by land. The units used for the Port Blair invasion could be ferried to Tavoy but only if I succeed in taking the base. Given how weak those African divisions are, that is chancy. Currently the Japanese have around 12,000 defenders. In the next few turns I'll give more recon on this.
2. Prep the two divisions to land at Rangoon while using minimal forces to occupy Nicobar Islands which are currently empty. The upside of this is that I can get more LCUs to Rangoon and help me there, though it wouldn't be until July or so. Building up the Nicobars will take time as well as as drawing part of my limited air force from Burma.

Honestly I don't like either option. My main goal in the Indian Ocean theater has always been to open up the Burma road and get China going offensively. Given how much of China I still control (basically still this), getting supplies and base units into China will be huge. I have thousands upon thousands of Chinese infantry squads in reserve because the units in China lack the supply to get reinforced. Getting few hundred thousand tons of supply through the Burma road will allow me to open up an offensive in China without Allied LCUs. So these outflanking maneuvers I am contemplating seem to be in vain; all I want to do is finish off Rangoon as quickly as possible.

(in reply to Sangeli)
Post #: 295
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/25/2016 8:46:34 AM   
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CaptBeefheart
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Good point on xAPs vs CD units. I have noticed they get hit harder than APAs. However, against the Ironman AI losses aren't too out of hand.

I like landing at Tavoy myself, especially if it only has 12,000 defenders. The two African divs could probably handle it, but it would help a lot to have additional arty, tank and HQ assets on the invasion. From there you can threaten the whole coastline and Bangkok with LCUs and you can park some AKE/AD/AR there and do sustained shore bombardments of Rangoon, Moulmein and Mergui, all the while ensuring Rangoon gets zero resupply.

Cheers,
CC

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RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/26/2016 3:29:52 AM   
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Capt. Harlock
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quote:

I'm only coming out slightly ahead with P-38s but the P-47s cut through Japanese CAP like butter.


Have you been able to put any P-51's into the fight yet?

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Post #: 297
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/26/2016 6:00:47 PM   
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Sangeli
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Commander Cody
I like landing at Tavoy myself, especially if it only has 12,000 defenders. The two African divs could probably handle it, but it would help a lot to have additional arty, tank and HQ assets on the invasion. From there you can threaten the whole coastline and Bangkok with LCUs and you can park some AKE/AD/AR there and do sustained shore bombardments of Rangoon, Moulmein and Mergui, all the while ensuring Rangoon gets zero resupply.

The thing is that I don't have any extra support I can give. And two underpower divisions will not defeat 12,000 soldiers in terrain quickly. As a result, I decided to retask those units to Rangoon. I think that's the right move. Landing in Tavoy wouldn't make the supply situation any worse than it already is for the IJA in Burma. And I still don't even have a 2 to 1 AV edge with all my LCUs in Rangoon. It might take a while for those African divisions to reach the line but I'm having difficulty imagining that I'm going to take Rangoon before that.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock
Have you been able to put any P-51's into the fight yet?

No, not really. Right now I only have the P-51A and only a few squadrons. It's not a great plane but it has decent range so it has been exclusively used as bomber escort. Looking forward to the P-51B with its long range AND excellent speed. Having a long range and capable single engine fighter will be very nice in the SWPAC where I'm continually reaching for further targets.

(in reply to CaptBeefheart)
Post #: 298
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/26/2016 7:12:34 PM   
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Sangeli
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April 18th, 1944

Not a lot going on now. Mostly just airfield bombing and the occasional air battle.

I haven't posted much stuff from the sub war, but I'll give you a snippet from today:

quote:


xAK Atago Maru, Torpedo hits 1
E No.4, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
PB Shinko Maru #2, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
PB Ma 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
xAKL Haguro Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
xAK Gyoyu Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage


This is a little better than average but each day I'm hitting 2-4 ships with torpedoes. One thing that's interesting of late is how many escort ships are getting hit by subs. At this point those small escorts are the majority of Japanese losses from subs. Curious if the Japanese could ever run low on these ships. My gut says no but I've sunk hundreds upon hundreds of escorts by now.

(in reply to Sangeli)
Post #: 299
RE: Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Pati... - 8/27/2016 2:34:28 AM   
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BBfanboy
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Japan will never run out of small PBs - it can convert the smallest merchant vessels to PBs and it can build them pretty quick too!
But if you sink all the real xAKs those PBs can escort themselves around the ocean and burn fuel as much as they want - it's all good for you!

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