Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: WiTP_Dude

1. Early February - The Musashi is docked at Hong Kong along with the other battleships of the Combined Fleet. Orders arrive for the fleet to transit to Rangoon at mission speed to support the Imperial Japanese Army's invasion of Eastern India. The Musashi, commanded by Yasuhide Setoyama, leaves Hong Kong right away for the Malacca Straits.

2. Late February - The Musashi passes through Singapore and arrives in the Malacca Straits. On the 25th of the month, while traversing the shallows of the straights, the British submarine Tally Ho snuck up on the great battleship. The T-class submarine got in close and launched a spread of torpedoes. Most of the torps missed but the Musashi was unable to dodge one of them. The hit only caused minor damage but enough for Setoyama to order the battleship back to Hong Kong. The rest of the fleet continued toward Rangoon except for a couple of escorting destroyers.

3. Early March - The Musashi arrives back in Hong Kong. The rest of the fleet has also been ordered back to the naval base at full speed due to the sighting of Allied naval transports gathering southeast of Borneo. Reports from Emily reconnaissance aircraft indicate the Allies are about to attempt a landing somewhere in Borneo or the Southern Philippines. As soon as the main fleet arrives back at Hong Kong to meet up again with the Musashi, it is ordered to move at full speed into the Sulu Sea to turn back the Allied invasion fleet.

4. Mid. March - The Allied naval force begins disembarking troops on the unoccupied island of Jolo. On the dawn of the 12th, the Musashi, along with the battleships Yamato, Nagato, and Kongo, arrives offshore Jolo. South of Jolo sits a large task force of Allied aircraft carriers and they immediately large several squadrons of torpedo and dive bombers to search for the battleships.

The Allies are succesful in locating the battleship and during the course of the day over 270 carrier-based bombers strike at the Japanese fleet. The Musashi gets the worse of it. In the first wave the battleship takes eleven bombs from Helldivers and is set on fire. At midday a small force of British Barracuda torpedo bombers strike at the Japanese ships and land two torpedos in the Musashi. A second attack by the American bombers mostly focuses on the other battleships and the Musashi comes away with only three minor hits.

Despite being heavily damaged, the fleet is able to find and engage in the late afternoon the British ships guarding the landing crafts at Jolo. The Musashi is able to land a couple of hits on the British battleships Warspite and Valiant. However the Japanese ship also takes a few shells in return and is now heavily damaged and badly listing.

That night the Musashi is reduced to only a few knots and flooding problems increase by the hour. Setoyama briefly considers ordering the ship abandoned but sees no hope in such a decision. No rescue is possible so the only hope is to make it back to safe anchorage. The Musashi slowly begins moving toward Brunei along with the destroyers Okinami and Yukikaze while the rest of the fleet moves toward Manilia.

5. Late March - The Musashi continues to take on water as it slowly inches toward Brunei. A repair ship is sent out from Singapore to help the ship as it arrives in port. Several days are spent trying to save the battleship but the facilities of the port just aren't up to the task. Plus the port is dangerously close to Jolo which has been built into an Allied base. The order is given to start moving toward Singapore despite the flooding problems.

6. Early April - The Musashi makes a brief two-day stop at the small port at Kuching. The situation is even worse than Brunei so Setoyama orders the ship to continue on the way toward Singapore.

7. Mid-April - The Musashi, along with her two destoyer escort and repair ship, arrive at the large modern naval facility located in Singapore Harbor. Here the battleship is finally able to stop taking on water and eventually all flooding problems are resolved. Yet the battleship is still badly damaged and needs months of work to get back into battle shape. Orders are given to take the ship back to Japan.

8. Late-April - After brief stops in Saigon and Camranh Bay, the Musashi arrives back at Hong Kong. The ship spends a few days in harbor here, gathering provisions and fuel for the final leg of the journey back to Japan. Several cruisers are seen leaving Hong Kong at the same time, moving to continue the battle with the Allies around Jolo.

9. Early-May - The Musashi arrives in Japan and transits toward the giant naval facility located at Maizuru. The ship goes into dry dock on May 6th and major repairs are immediately started.

I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!

quote:

ORIGINAL: medck

Dude has lost almost as many ships (1110) by 5/1944 as you have (1180) in your game against Freeboy in 5/1945. You should be able to roll him back at will in the Pacific now. Any chance of a strategic map with a general outline of the Japanese Empire?

The CV casualty list indicates how the NZ invasion hurt him -- not only did he lose 100K troops, but also around 4CVs and 3 CVLs. In exhange you gave up Enterprise and Yorktown. Good decision on where to make your stand!

quote:

ORIGINAL: medck

Dude has lost almost as many ships (1110) by 5/1944 as you have (1180) in your game against Freeboy in 5/1945. You should be able to roll him back at will in the Pacific now. Any chance of a strategic map with a general outline of the Japanese Empire?

The CV casualty list indicates how the NZ invasion hurt him -- not only did he lose 100K troops, but also around 4CVs and 3 CVLs. In exhange you gave up Enterprise and Yorktown. Good decision on where to make your stand!