An Idiots Guide To Losing Your CV's Before 1942: WiTP:AE KyzBP vs UCG

Started by KyzBP, June 22, 2015, 04:02:39 PM

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JasonPratt

It says something unique about the state of this game that you're kinda like, "Yaaaay, he's invading India or maybe Ceylon perhaps!"  :coolsmiley:
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FarAway Sooner

Maybe your carrier-based bomber crews just needed the experience missing all those DDs and CLs to boost their experience?

Looking at the numbers, you had 25 SBDs up in AM score 4 hits in each of 2 attacks.  Down south, you had 53 SBDs and 23 TBDs score 2 hits in each of 2 attacks.  That's half as many hits per attack with 3 times as many planes.

Do those guys have significantly different Experience ratings, maybe?  Or did they just forget to read their Dive Bombing for Dummies books?

KyzBP

Quote from: FarAway Sooner on March 02, 2016, 11:31:42 PM
Maybe your carrier-based bomber crews just needed the experience missing all those DDs and CLs to boost their experience?

Looking at the numbers, you had 25 SBDs up in AM score 4 hits in each of 2 attacks.  Down south, you had 53 SBDs and 23 TBDs score 2 hits in each of 2 attacks.  That's half as many hits per attack with 3 times as many planes.

Do those guys have significantly different Experience ratings, maybe?  Or did they just forget to read their Dive Bombing for Dummies books?

I'm not really sure what happened there.  Most likely it's because the DD's are far more elusive than AK's plus the DD's AA may make pilots a bit less effective.  Both of those are guesses.

FarAway Sooner

Sprinting DDs certainly make harder targets than CVs!

Japanese AA in the first half-year of the war was woefully inadequate, especially against dive-bombers (the addition of a third-dimension on a rapidly diving target called for more complex fire-control solutions than the Japanese had on any of the medium- and high-level AA).  That was a lesson highlighted in Midway, but it was also one that was fairly easily remedied.

Japanese doctrine at the start of the war reflected a strong overemphasis on offense in virtually every aspect of their military.  This was one of those.  I have no idea if/how the game models that sort of thing, though.

KyzBP

March 24th, 1942

Geek's group of DD raiders continues to terrorize the West coast of Sumatra.

Not a big loss but he's keeping my resupply and reinforcements at bay.  I was going to send the Brit CV's back this way after they
were resupplied and rearmed but with Geek's CV's nearby I'll have to keep the Brit's near land based CAP.

Stupid sub vs. one of my tankers near Darwin.

I have a mess of supply ships and tankers headed to Darwin.  I'm hoping to overwhelm his subs and aircraft and maybe slip a few through.
This one didn't make it.

We continue to bomb the retreating troops at Brisbane.

We managed to take out about 100 of his men but the CAP over Brisbane took out a few of my planes.  I can't believe my 2 Airacobra escort
wasn't more effective. :idiot2:

ASW hits a sub at AM

It was only one hit but Geek can't be enjoying my counter to his counter.  The CV's are continuing North and pulling his subs with them.  I'll
bring them back South in a turn or two.  That should make for safer unloading of supplies and troops at AM.  Plus, I want to pull the QE out
of here and get her back to either Pearl or Seattle.

The CV's:


The Queen Elisabeth:

Her 50 Float Damage scares me a bit.  If her pumps fail she'll sink like a brick, and pumps tend to fail.

I also replaced the commander of the fighter squadron at Pratt Field.

These fighters were getting eaten up by Geek's second line pilots.  I'm hoping a change to a much better commander will
make these guys more combat effective.  This squadron will be bearing the brunt of any attempts to retake these bases.
Good luck Col. Cole. O0

A glimpse at Wenchow.

I think I can get B-17's and 24's to Wenchow from AM once the fields are improved.  That would allow me to not only better bomb
Geek's troops in China but to take shots at Home Island bases.  I'm kind of hoping Geek forgot about this base.  I'll try to quietly
fortify and improve it.

Geek's CV's approaching Singapore.

I figure I have less than a week before the air raid sirens at Port Blair come to life.  I'm trying to get as many planes there as
the base will hold.  I have that surface combat TF there right now.  If I can keep them undetected I may be able to sneak them
out as his transports get into the area.  To do that I'm going to have to have CAP going full time and at all altitudes.  I have to
shoot down anything he sends to recon the island.  If only I still held Sabang.

More Geek CV's.

As if he didn't have enough around there already.  I'm curious about the lack of planes.  Either he sent them to Manila...orrrr
he transferred them to his other CV's and these are truly sitting here undefended.  If they remain there I may try something
very, very daring....

FarAway Sooner

I'm glad that Palawan is still in American hands!  It is far and away the most scenic of the Philippine Islands, with tall granite cliffs that tower over the jungle and lizards the size of a dog that come up to within 10 feet of tourists and patiently wait for food.

Like most islands in the whole country, it's also got nice beaches.

KyzBP

Quote from: FarAway Sooner on March 04, 2016, 11:26:21 PM
I'm glad that Palawan is still in American hands!  It is far and away the most scenic of the Philippine Islands, with tall granite cliffs that tower over the jungle and lizards the size of a dog that come up to within 10 feet of tourists and patiently wait for food.

Like most islands in the whole country, it's also got nice beaches.

It would be even better if it had plants that sprouted planes and mechanics. :smitten:

JasonPratt

Man, even if that task force at Busunaga (or whatever) was chock full of planes, with no destroyer escorts I'd be sending every sub available after it.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

KyzBP

March 25th, 1942

Zeroes appear over AM.

And we do rather poorly against them.  The Warhawk squadron here is simply overmatched.  I'll adjust and have more
of the carrier planes provide CAP and see if I can scrape up a couple of better squadrons to base here.  I will be leaving
a couple of the Wildcat squadrons here once the CV's depart.  It will be hard to replace combat losses here so I need a lot
of fighters to start.

Bombers continue to disrupt Geek's retreat.

If I can keep him disrupted, I may be able to chase him down with all my armored units...or should I just stay where I'm at,
behind my high walls?

Small air raid at Padang.

It doesn't seem to matter what size raid he sends at me they always seem to find something to sink.  Also, if you notice,
I think those were CV planes.  They are the Val's natural habitat.

Geek tried assaulting Padang but came up short.

I hope that makes him think I'm stronger than I really am here and he backs down.  I'm still trying to figure out a way to
reinforce here but he controls the skies and will sink anything I send.  I could try landing troops further North and walking
them down but that takes a lot of time.

Here's all the ships coming and going near AM.

I never really thought this would be a long term operation but now I'm throwing everything I can find into the pot here.
Holding this area gives me a lot of possibilities not normally seen in this game, I think.

Intel Report.

Notice all the units loading up and heading for Singapore.  These are all in Manila, I believe.  I'm going to try to get as many
subs as I can posted along the route.  Maybe we can sink a few transports and soften the upcoming blow.

Supply!

For awhile now I've been trying to figure out a way to supply the remnant troops on Borneo.  I just realized that the B-25's
that have sprung up at Tjilatjap have the range to make it to Sintang.  I'm going to begin ferrying supplies there.  If I can stock
up any substantial amount of supplies I'll try building an airstrip there and maybe use it as a naval interdiction base, bombing transports,
tankers, and cargo ships moving around the area.  If it works, and Geek doesn't like it, it'll take a long while to get troops there.  DC-3's
and the like just became very useful.

Geeks CV's at Singapore.

They're here. :-\  It may get ugly for me for awhile.  I think, in the long run, Geek leaving the Pacific to me may hurt him.

This has been one crazy war so far.

KyzBP

Quote from: JasonPratt on March 05, 2016, 09:49:04 AM
Man, even if that task force at Busunaga (or whatever) was chock full of planes, with no destroyer escorts I'd be sending every sub available after it.

In a few days, once the AAR catches up with the game, you'll see I tried just that.

Sir Slash

Looks like The Monkey is starting to turn into quite the brawl. Will this be the new Guadalcanal that sucks in all Geekamoto's assets that can't be replaced easily?
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

KyzBP

Quote from: Sir Slash on March 05, 2016, 11:28:52 AM
Looks like The Monkey is starting to turn into quite the brawl. Will this be the new Guadalcanal that sucks in all Geekamoto's assets that can't be replaced easily?

For now it looks like his high quality units are headed towards India.  It may not hit Guadalcanal status if I can get this built up quickly.  He may just have to concede it and prepare to defend the Home Islands.  :knuppel2:

KyzBP

March 26th, 1942

Sub at Singapore hunts for Geek CV's.

But finds a tanker instead. >:(  I should be happy that he at least hit something.  Still looking for Flattops.

Maybe this time?

Just another tanker.  I'm sure this is grabbing Geek's attention though.  I'd feel really uneasy as I moved my CV's through
this area.  All it's going to take is one lucky torp.

Why won't this guy leave???

I toss depth charges at him nearly every turn.  He'll stay one turn too long.  Mark my words.

And he invited a guest.

I just now noticed there are 2 different subs here.  I thought I was only chasing one.  I may send one of the ASW TF's from
XMas Island here.  I'd like to use Canton as a staging point but not if the waters are teeming with angry fish.

The fighter sweeps over AM continue.

I made adjustments and was expecting better results.  That didn't happen this time.

This one was a little better.

I really want to see heavy, dissuade you from coming back, type of losses on his part.  I fear that the lack of splashed Zeroes
will only encourage Geek. 

Twenty percent casualties this time.

It sounds better than "one kill". :-[  I don't know if the new commander is helping much yet.  Also, very few Buffaloes launched.
I'll have to look into why.  The skies above AM are beginning to concern me.

I went on the offensive in China.

That was a mistake.  I'm just outclassed and outgunned all over this theater and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to hold him
back here.  I should be doing much better here but, admittedly, the ground war isn't my strong suit.  Actually, nothing really is.

CV's on the move.

Here they come.  I'm don't think I'm ready for him just yet but I don't have a feeling of dread either.  I just have to keep my
surface combat TF hidden until the transports show up.  They're under the CAP of about 70 Hurricanes and Buffaloes.  It's not enough
but Geek may shy away if we manage a draw or better on the first day of air combat.

Tomorrow the bombardment of Palmyra should begin with landings following close behind.  Let's hope we starved those guys out long enough.

FarAway Sooner

My sense is that the early Allied game, much like the real war, is about holding the Japanese off and inflicting some attrition losses while you ramp up your own forces.  The reality is that the South Pacific was a grinding war of attrition from mid-1942 until mid-1943, in which the Japanese got ground down and the Allies got some seasoning, before the flood of Allied planes, ships, and troops arrived in mid-1943.

When you've got reinforcements coming, a draw is an acceptable result. 

I'm not sure if you're there yet, but the results seem much more even than they were 2 months ago...

KyzBP

Quote from: FarAway Sooner on March 05, 2016, 03:22:36 PM
My sense is that the early Allied game, much like the real war, is about holding the Japanese off and inflicting some attrition losses while you ramp up your own forces.  The reality is that the South Pacific was a grinding war of attrition from mid-1942 until mid-1943, in which the Japanese got ground down and the Allies got some seasoning, before the flood of Allied planes, ships, and troops arrived in mid-1943.

When you've got reinforcements coming, a draw is an acceptable result. 

I'm not sure if you're there yet, but the results seem much more even than they were 2 months ago...

The big difference between the game between Geek and I are playing and history is how aggressive Geek has been.  I haven't had time to dig in and hold him.  With very few exceptions, he's aggressively pushed me around the map.  I think my best strategy is hit him where he's soft and get out.  Death by many small cuts.  Once I do start getting the flood of reinforcements I can start with a more conventional strategy.