Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: adarbrauner


WOW, amazing. challenging the Japanese superiority in those waters. One would say, as the Argentinians against the British Fleet in the Falklands, 1982

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurorus

In the central corridor of the DEI, the Japanese landing at Manado the day before attracted the attention of the allies. Allied naval search had spotted another amphibious TF headed for Ternate. In the night, a Carrier Battle Group, screened by CLs, moved into the slot 250 miles south of Manado and Ternate. The Japanese admirals were expecting the Hermes to take this position, and the Manado amphibious group had withdrawn. The Ternate Group was covered by a heavy Cruiser screen and fighters from a Japanese light CV group stationed to the north. The attack came in the morning, but it was not the Hermes air group.

Hudsons came in first at low altitude over the heavy cruisers.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Ternate at 78,102

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 12

Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Hudson I: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CA Atago
CA Chokai

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Hudson I bombing from 4000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
4 x Hudson I bombing from 4000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

Then the call came out from Japanese spotters... Dive Bombers... Dive bombers? A US CVTF has arrived in the DEI. They proved capable enough to hit merchant ships, but they are still not practiced enough to be completely effective against warships. They did manage a hit on the Atago amidships and a DD.


Morning Air attack on TF, near Ternate at 78,102

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 9

Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 9
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 9
SBD-2 Dauntless x 18
SBD-3 Dauntless x 18

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
SBD-2 Dauntless: 3 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AMC Awata Maru, Bomb hits 8, and is sunk
CA Atago, Bomb hits 1
CA Chokai
DD Umikaze, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
CL Jintsu
DD Nowaki
CL Isuzu

It has been a tough war for Dutch tankers and Japanese AMCs. In the afternoon, Halsey, or whoever is in charge of the CVTF launched a followup strike, and the US pilot recorded two hits on the CL Isuzu.



Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ternate at 78,102

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 17

Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 9
SBD-2 Dauntless x 15
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Jintsu
CL Isuzu, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CA Chokai
CA Takao
CA Atago

The strikes were launched at long range: 6 hexes. The Japanese CVE TF was stationed 2 hexes further north and out of range of the US naval bombers.

quote:

At least, the Argentines scored some hits on the British CVLs at Malvina... the bombs did not explode, however.

quote:

ORIGINAL: adarbrauner


Regarding Bobo's disatrous strike on Sinkiang: the only rational explanation for his choice to send his few and vulnerable bombers against the wary Zeroes is that he may have received intel about the transport planes, correctly interpreted their presence and scope and disperately done something to prevent or disrupt the air assault.
He's so aggressive...just that in this instance he really exaggerated.

quote:

He is playing very, very well in my opinion. The airfield raid on Singkawang was not as reckless or fruitless as it appears. As I say, he had been bombing at night, so he was probably gambling that I had diverted some CAP to night. Zeros have swept Singapore for 3 days, and he has not flown his Buffalos the last two days. So, if he wants to use Singapore's air, he must make a choice... fly Buffalos against Zeros, or try to even the odds a bit by pinning some Zeros on the ground and giving his Buffalos a numbers advantage. He opted for the latter route, and I cannot say that I would not have tried something similar in his position, knowing that I would lose bombers, but hoping to take some pressure off the Buffalos.

As it happens, he did disable a number of transports at Singkawang, which will use up aviation support and runway space for a time at Singkawang. Not entirely unsatisfactory as it is a key airfield and this is a key moment.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurorus

Dec. 20th 821Bobo had sent in a few night raids on the airfield at Singkawang. Today he decided to change it up a bit and bring his 2 engines from Singapore in the daylight. Zeros were on station and took a toll on the RAF, but the Hudsons and Blenheims did hit the airfield and found Thalias?


Morning Air attack on Singkawang , at 56,88

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18

Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 4
Blenheim IV x 3
Hudson I x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-56 Thalia: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 2 destroyed
Hudson I: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Hudson I bombing from 9000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
3 x Blenheim I bombing from 9000 feet *

Morning Air attack on Singkawang , at 56,88

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-56 Thalia: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 6 destroyed

Runway hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Blenheim IV bombing from 9000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb

What were the airfields at Singkawang doing filled with transport planes? Loading paratroopers for a drop at Praboemoelih. Where is Praboemoelih, you ask? It is the base adjacent to Palembang, on the railline between Palembang and Oosthaven.

Ground combat at Praboemoelih (48,92)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 661 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 31

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 11

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 11 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Praboemoelih !!!

quote:

ORIGINAL: adarbrauner

Listen, what kind of game are you playing? I mean what version.

At first, I had not realized that this was a night strike.

in light of this, Bobo's decision was brilliant, audacious, in full spirit of British warlike, aggressive and imaginative attitude, 1000 kudos (just, why at 9000 feet altitude and not 4 or 3 k?).

quote:

ORIGINAL: adarbrauner

I really hoped to read some reactions and insights to my queries about the higly effective bombing of the tank battalion in Luzon, a few posts above.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurorus
Most ports have been at their operations capacity since Dec. 7th, with the tonnage of ships at dock at capacity. Babeldaob is a mess right now with 4 turns of operations basically in queue: supplies to offload, ships to fuel and rearm, troops to load... etc... . It has been this way for two weeks with no end in sight. This is important for beginning Japanese players: make full use of your port capacity. This means using every port to its limit, with ships in dock equal to the port capacity, and getting naval support into the smaller ports that will serve as your primary embarkation and debarkation points.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurorus

In Malaysia, waves of Japanese bombers follow fighter sweeps over Singapore and Palembang. The skies are clear and the damage is substantial.

Morning Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
G3M2 Nell x 28
G4M1 Betty x 26

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest III: 12 damaged
Vildebeest III: 3 destroyed on ground
P-40E Warhawk: 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed on ground
Swordfish I: 2 damaged

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

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 42

Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 36
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 24

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 19 damaged
Buffalo I: 3 destroyed on ground
Hudson I: 12 damaged
Hudson I: 1 destroyed on ground
Blenheim IV: 4 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed on ground
Blenheim I: 1 damaged

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

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 31

Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 28 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 25
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 24

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 2 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 3 damaged
Blenheim IV: 2 destroyed on ground
Buffalo I: 2 damaged
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed on ground
Catalina I: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 9

Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 20

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 8 damaged
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed on ground
Hudson I: 3 damaged
Hudson I: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 4

Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 30 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 23

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 7 damaged
Buffalo I: 12 damaged
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed on ground
Hudson I: 2 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged

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

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 7

For once, Japanese weather forecasts were correct. I need to mark this down in my notable events of the war. The allied engineers at Singapore had just finished repairing the port two days ago, so now they have something new to work on instead of builing fortifications. The clear weather could not have come at a better time.

I had the bombers in position yesterday to begin, but held off for a day because the weather forecast was poor and because the 5th air division was still unloading, and I wanted it in position to coordinate the strikes from Kota Bharu and Kuantan. The strikes were preceded by a sweep of Oscar ICs, so the air coordination, while not perfect, was satisfactory. The Japanese army struggles with air coordination throughout the war moreso than the navy, owing to the less adept army squadron commanders.

quote:

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurorus
Most ports have been at their operations capacity since Dec. 7th, with the tonnage of ships at dock at capacity. Babeldaob is a mess right now with 4 turns of operations basically in queue: supplies to offload, ships to fuel and rearm, troops to load... etc... . It has been this way for two weeks with no end in sight. This is important for beginning Japanese players: make full use of your port capacity. This means using every port to its limit, with ships in dock equal to the port capacity, and getting naval support into the smaller ports that will serve as your primary embarkation and debarkation points.

I use amphibious TFs for supply and troop transport for the bonus period, they do not clog the ports

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurorus
..
The way in which amphibious TFs disembark at ports has changed in the new Beta. This game is the official version. I believe the change in the Beta involves docked amphibious TFs, which will now recieve the "docked" rate. They do not receive the docked "rate" in the official game and unload at the same speed whether docked or not.
...
<lots of other minor problems for amphib tfs mentioned>

quote:

ORIGINAL: GetAssista
Just run a simple test - take all ships with troops in Samah on your 1st turn (you have it saved right?) into as single amphib TF with no * to ensure normal action points. And set it to unload. You will most certainly see all 70k men and a lot of supply land in a single turn in a size 3 port. Good luck matching this with transport TFs.
I believe my solution works for your problem. In fact I can't recall any other Japanese AARs having logistic problems of your scale with troop movement. Japan has enough shipping to never clog ports waiting for units or supply during bonus period. Especially supply, because why unload a pair of docked ships when you can unload a dozen undocked with higher rate, then move TF to other base needing supply

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurorus

Dec. 23rd. Yamamota spent the night of the 22nd at Combined Fleet HQ on the Home Islands receiving reports from his area commanders. He felt the general staff had done a fine job with planning the Palembang operation. Minesweepers and torpedo boats were on schedule to arrive 12 hours before the amphibious group to deal with the allied PT boats and minefield. Air superiority was achieved briefly with the air raids on Singapore and Palembang. All units were in place and in order. Surface combat groups, carrier cover. Then the first reports starting coming in.

The minesweepers failed to detect the minefield and engaged the PT boats instead. Then the torpedo boats detected the minefield: rather than the other way around. Forunately... the minesweepers performed admirably in their engagement with the PT boats. The torpedo boats did their best with the minefield, actually removing 3 mines and a fourth when the TB Kiji collided with one.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DMS W-4
DMS W-11
DMS W-12
DMS W-20

Allied Ships
PT TM-4, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT TM-5
PT TM-6, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-7, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT TM-8, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-9
PT TM-10, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-11, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-12, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
PT TM-13, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-14, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-15, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

TF 57 encounters mine field at Palembang (48,91)

Japanese Ships
TB Kari
TB Sagi
TB Otori
TB Kiji, Mine hits 1, heavy damage

4 mines cleared


At least the TBs detected the minefield before the amphibious group arrived or this could have been one epic naval disaster.

quote:

ORIGINAL: adarbrauner

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurorus

Dec. 23rd. Yamamota spent the night of the 22nd at Combined Fleet HQ on the Home Islands receiving reports from his area commanders. He felt the general staff had done a fine job with planning the Palembang operation. Minesweepers and torpedo boats were on schedule to arrive 12 hours before the amphibious group to deal with the allied PT boats and minefield. Air superiority was achieved briefly with the air raids on Singapore and Palembang. All units were in place and in order. Surface combat groups, carrier cover. Then the first reports starting coming in.

The minesweepers failed to detect the minefield and engaged the PT boats instead. Then the torpedo boats detected the minefield: rather than the other way around. Forunately... the minesweepers performed admirably in their engagement with the PT boats. The torpedo boats did their best with the minefield, actually removing 3 mines and a fourth when the TB Kiji collided with one.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DMS W-4
DMS W-11
DMS W-12
DMS W-20

Allied Ships
PT TM-4, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT TM-5
PT TM-6, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-7, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT TM-8, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-9
PT TM-10, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-11, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-12, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
PT TM-13, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-14, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-15, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

TF 57 encounters mine field at Palembang (48,91)

Japanese Ships
TB Kari
TB Sagi
TB Otori
TB Kiji, Mine hits 1, heavy damage

4 mines cleared


At least the TBs detected the minefield before the amphibious group arrived or this could have been one epic naval disaster.

Were the minesweeper ordered a minesweeping mission or a surface one? Looks like the latter.

I any case , those dutch Pts perform poorly or less than; I hope the Japanese ones shall be much better!