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

[Sir Slash]

Where's he heading? Antarctica? 

[jomni]

This is your E-class ship.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_escort_Kunashiri

[KyzBP]

April 19th, 1942

And it begins.

SBD's find transports off Perth.



The SBD's from the bomber laden carrier group (now land based) score some decent hits.  The CAP is really light over
the transports.  I'll venture that he's protecting the carriers instead.  I'm going to keep the escort light and keep my
CAP heavy over Perth in case Geek decides to shut down the airfield there.

Mitchell's hit the transports.


The B-25's continue to impress.  Round One of the invasion cost Geek about 1300 troops...or about 1% of what I estimate
he's bringing.  We probably have 1 day, maybe 2 before boots hit the beach.  If we only knock out 3% of his invasion
force then we'll probably lose Australia.  I don't think there's any chance I can keep Oz if I'm fighting a 2 front war here.  If
he takes Perth, I hope that will trigger my reinforcements. 

Here's what it looks like around Perth.

My small Surface Combat Group at the top has been shadowing his force, looking for an opening to strike.  There
should be a few damaged transports that are now trailing behind.  I'm hoping these guys will get a chance to pick them
off while Geek's carriers and combat ships are at the front of the formation.  I've also sent every sub within 1000 miles
of Australia towards Perth.  Maybe they can hit some of the empty or damaged transports as they head back to Japan
or Singapore.

Sub attack off Japan.

I have a lot of subs here now.  At least one takes a shot every turn.  Having the torpedoes detonate is another story.
At first he had a lot of DD ASW patrols, now it's just second line patrol boats.  His DD's have moved and may be up to
something.  I wish I knew if he was feeling any of the pressure I'm trying to put on him around Japan.

Geek bombs Bundagrad.

Nothing special except they came in without escort and all I could muster was 2 P-39's.  I'm transferring anything that
can reach Oz to, well, Oz.  There's no point in protecting the South Pacific if all of Geek's assets are in Australia.

We bomb Bunda and the surrounding suburbs.



I'm not sure where his fighters went, possibly the bombardments at Rockhampton having an effect, but I may send
my next waves of bombers in without escort so I can increase my CAP over Bundaberg and take down some of
those bombers of his.

Tsuyung falls.

All part of the plan...His. :-\  Not really unexpected.  I'm sure he see's me behind him now and will leave a larger garrison
at Tsuyung, weakening his forces that are driving towards India.  in about a week, I'll receive a bunch of reinforcements at Chungking.
I'll move a large force to retake Tsuyung.  I'm also moving some idle bombers to the East side of India to begin
bombing his Stack of Doom.  I don't think he can get any fighters there so I'll send anything that can drop a bomb.  Even if I just reduce
his supply I'll be draining the blood out of his India push.

Port attack on Hokkaido.

We didn't hit anything and only downed 1 Zero while losing 2 of our own.  This almost isn't noteworthy except I think it shows I'm losing
my fighter edge here.  These pilots have been here 2 months now.  I really need to take the carriers and pilots back to U.S. waters and give
them a break but the game is balancing on a pinhead right now and any reduction of pressure here could push the odds permanently in his
favor.  The Hornet has left San Diego and is on it's way here to help but her pilots aren't near the caliber of the pilots already here.  I'll try
bleeding a few places to try and get more airpower here.  Pratt Field is still a solid week away from accepting B-17's so we need to get the
fields closer to Japan into service so the fighters can protect the bombers. 

I need more stuff!

[Barthheart]

April 19th, 1942
...
I need more stuff!

Said every General in every war.....  ;D

[KyzBP]

April 19th, 1942
...
I need more stuff!

Said every General in every war.....  ;D

Yeah, but I mean it.  ;)

[KyzBP]

April 20th, 1942

The day starts with a morning bombardment of Bundagrad.

Well, actually the troops headed to Bundaberg.  These guys have been moving pretty slow.  I hope it's because the
bombings/bombardments are keeping them disrupted.

Bombing Bunda.




It looks like we knocked out our usual 200 troops.  If I had about a month of uninterrupted bombing I might be able
to push him out of here.  But he always answers back.

Geek seems to go for my airfield here but with all the base support I have, the damage is repaired almost over night.
If he shifts to trying to hit my troops then I'll have to put up more CAP.

Bombarding Savaii.

I can't give him a free ride anywhere.  If I can hit it, then I should. (I think I heard Starfury say that once.)

SBD's relocate the transports.


The Good News: We hit the transports again.  The Bad News: We killed less than 250 men.  I probably did Geek a
favor there as now he doesn't have to feed them.  We HAVE TO hit more transports.  Instead we did this:



Ok, so we hit 2 Battleships a total of 3 times.  That doesn't even scratch the paint.  I looked in the rules, searched Wikipedia,
and had a Medium contact the ghost of Yamamoto, not a one of those said "Battleships can capture Land Bases."  So why
in the hell are we hitting BB's when 3 bombs dropped on 3 transports could have done a ton more damage????  So far
that's the most frustrating mechanic of the game.Please let me prioritize!

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, I don't think he's going to Perth ???

I'm almost completely convinced Perth IS NOT his target.  I'm going to box up a bunch of troops and send them back to
Melbourne.  I think he's going to hit Melbourne and then force himself on Sydney.  I don't really have an answer for that.
I sent a bunch of transports to New Zealand to pick up every unit I can.  If this is Geek's plan then those guys won't get
here in time.  I'm sending all the fighters back East as well.  Geek seems to be protecting just the carriers so I'll try to take
care of all his bombers at Bunda and then turn my aircraft towards Melbourne.

Oscars jump Blenheims.

These bombers were set to select their own targets.  Nice choice fella's.   I know there's easier targets out there.

Geek bombers find Detroit.

Not the city, but the light cruiser.  I unintentionally left these guys without CAP. Things don't look so good for them.
And getting worse.

I need to pay closer attention to detail.  Little mistakes like this could cost me the theater.  The Detroit will eventually sink.

I again feel the tide of war turning in Geek's favor. :(

[Airborne Rifles]

His DD's have moved and may be up to
something.

Something like replacing all the DD's you've knocked off down south?

[KyzBP]

His DD's have moved and may be up to
something.

Something like replacing all the DD's you've knocked off down south?

That's kind of what I was thinking but I don't know if the Eastern side of Australia is a priority of his anymore.  The good news is I have a lot of PBY coverage so I should get a heads up.

[KyzBP]

April 21st, 1942

I found the destroyers.  Or should I say they found me.




The predictably unpredictable bad weather kept his destroyers out of sight until they suddenly showed up at AM and
began sinking everything they could shoot at.  Luckily I had just detached my carrier escort and those cruisers were
able to chase his destroyers away.  I'm going to try to go after him with my SBDs which will hopefully have escort this time.

Better CAP at Bunda.

I increased the CAP but he was able to bring escorts so it was kind of a wash.  This area feels like Groundhog's Day.  For
now, neither one of us can make any progress on neither the land nor in the air.

Battleship hit near Batavia.

I'm going to let the screenshot speak for itself.

That was really all the meat of that turn.  There were continued bombings at Bundaberg, Wuchow, and some other Chinese cities.
Bad weather near Perth kept the sortie count to almost 0.  What did launch didn't hit anything.  I still can't tell exactly where he's
going.  More aircraft transferred to Oz from nearby islands.  They should be operational soon.  If Geek doesn't land near Melbourne
then some of the reinforcements from NZ may be able to lend a hand.

[KyzBP]

April 22nd, 1942

We start the day by checking in on the airfield at Rockhampton.

60 damaged Nells looks so impressive but the reality is they'll be dropping bombs on Bundaberg in 48 hours.
I plan to keep bombarding Rockhampton's airfield and the troops at Bundagrad until the barrels on the ships melt.

Air over Bundaberg.

Only 35 Nells showed up today.  Both his escorts and my CAP were equally unimpressive.  I've got to find some uber
experience pilots to take advantage of the match up here.

Sub attack at Canton.

I don't mind losing an empty AK as much as I'm getting ticked off at the amount of effort I'm putting into getting rid
of the subs here and they still manage to take out a ship every couple of days.

Sub attack at Nauru Island.

My PBY's noticed a TF of transports or cargo ships headed to Nauru Island.  I had a sub passing through the area so
he poked his nose in to see what was there.  I have some destroyers in the area.  They're going to head this way to further
investigate.

CAP intercepts SBD's.

That hurts.  It figures Geek throws up his CAP once I send my fighters back towards Sydney.  These were some of
my best dive bomber pilots.  It may take awhile to replace these guys.

SBD's hit Battleships.

And that hurts even more.  Now I'm really hurting for experienced dive bomber pilots.  I'll call this karma though.  If
these guys would've went after transports instead they may still be a complete squadron.

Cats at AM.

Today's theme should have been What Happens When You Bomb Without Escort.  The PBY pilots seem to make
better target choices than the average bomber pilot.  I was a little surprised to see these guys get jumped by so many
fighters.  I'm going to bring the carriers closer and try to engage these guys.  I need to thin them out and it may be time
to see if my carrier pilots still have an advantage.

The transports near Perth have turned the corner and are about to head East.  I still don't know their final destination but I've
got an opening with my Surface Combat TF.  There's a big gap between his ships and my SC TF should be able to slip in and engage.
The problem is the SC TF has almost no chance of getting out alive, and if they miss the transports then it'll have been for nothing.
I don't think I really have a choice, I'm sending them in.  Sorry there's no screenshot of this but I must have forgot to take it.

[FarAway Sooner]

I trust that your pilots and planes around AM both have significant fatigue.  The rule book PDF that I found indicates you can see that somewhere if you look, but you probably already knew that.

The target selection is maddening.  OTOH, it's not like commanders at an airbase have the luxury of picking targets like appetizers in a Sizzler buffet.  If your planes spot a target, you have limited intelligence on what it is and a limited window of time to launch your attack before those ships disappear into that big empty thing we call an ocean.

Suggests that you should always send escorts with your seasoned SBD pilots, maybe?

In terms of what he's doing, maybe Geek's sailors have just never seen the Aurora Australis and he's trying to afford them the privilege?

[KyzBP]

I trust that your pilots and planes around AM both have significant fatigue.  The rule book PDF that I found indicates you can see that somewhere if you look, but you probably already knew that.

The target selection is maddening.  OTOH, it's not like commanders at an airbase have the luxury of picking targets like appetizers in a Sizzler buffet.  If your planes spot a target, you have limited intelligence on what it is and a limited window of time to launch your attack before those ships disappear into that big empty thing we call an ocean.

Suggests that you should always send escorts with your seasoned SBD pilots, maybe?

In terms of what he's doing, maybe Geek's sailors have just never seen the Aurora Australis and he's trying to afford them the privilege?

Their fatigue isn't too bad right now.  They went a few days where nothing was happening at AM and were able to rest.  I think Geek brought some of his more experienced pilots from other theaters.  It would explain why 100 fighters showed up after we decimated his Tier 3 pilots in the area.  I have a lot of aircraft inbound so maybe we can regain control of the skies there.

It was a dumb move sending my fighters away.  None of the fighters have the range to make it from Perth to Adelaide, the next "major" airfield, so I have to send them back by rail.  It'll take 4 days (2 on the train and 2 being reassembled) before they're back in service.  If I delayed sending them then they might not have made it back in time.  But you're right, the experienced bombers will now have fighter escort.

As to where Geek's going, who knows.  He's not landing at Perth.  That much we know.

[KyzBP]

April 23rd, 1942

We now know where Geek is landing...and we were there to greet him.



Geek is landing at Albany.  Albany is just around the corner from Perth and far away from Melbourne.  My CL/DD force cut the
corner and was able to arrive at Albany at the same time as Geek's transports.  I think we only did very minor damage though.  My
guess is that Geek used as many transports as he find for this invasion to minimize the loss potential of each damaged or sunken
ship.  It's nice to have that luxury.

This one was lagging behind and may have been previously damaged.

I hope all those lost vehicles were tanks.  No troops were aboard which seems a little weird.

All good things must come to an end though.  Geek's escorts (not that kind) find my CL/DD force.


My little TF held up better than I thought it would.  I may be able to get back to Perth with this damage.  Unless his carrier planes find
me...cue the carrier planes.

It could've been worse.  If I only would've kept my fighters at Perth I may have been able to prevent some of this.  The truth is I doubt
many of my pilots would've survived an encounter with Geek's carrier based fighters.  It was probably for the best that I left.

The landings begin.



Geek took more casualties just getting off the boats than he did by any of my actions.  I have nothing other than a small fort that can
shoot at his troops as they land.  I'll try to run what's left of my bombers over the beach. Weather and lack of escorts kept them
grounded this turn.  I do have a couple of subs that should arrive shortly.

The Good Guys are still in the fight.
Nauru Island.

First the USS Morris checks in to see how much damage was done by the previous day's sub raid.  The Morris only disengages because
of a Main Gun malfunction, but not before he contacts a couple of friends.

No malfunctions here.  These guys fire until they're sure every one of these ships is going to sink.  Either they were dropping off troops
on Nauru or they were supplying troops there.  I'll have to send out some PBY's to find out.

Speaking of PBY's...

Just a random AK bombing.  The range on the Cats means almost no ship is safe. 

Bombing Bunda.

One of many sorties over Bundaberg.  We are keeping our 200 casualty average. 

Bombing Bunda, The Geek Way.

Our low experience Warhawk pilots need to pick up the pace.  This was the perfect mission to gather some kills and "level up".  They
were nothing short of unspectacular.  I'm going to send the 91 Kill Airacobra squadron this way to see if they can make an impact
on this bomber situation.

The USN try to do their part.

Again, not much. Maybe the damage from these raids is accumulating and is actually holding back potentially larger bombings.

Bleeping Fuso.

I'm telling you, Fuso, your days are numbered.

Lastly, a lowly sub finds a tanker.

I hope it was filled to the brim with precious fuel for the Fuso.

My troops began landing on the last island before Hokkaido.  Pratt Field is about 3 days away from taking on B-17's.  I need to take
down the 100 fighters around Hokkaido before it's safe to start launching any major bombing campaigns.

[Sir Slash]

What's at Albany that Geekamoto can use? Is there an airfield and or port there? Or will he have to build facilities there? I recall, and please correct me if I'm wrong about this, the Fuso and Kongo had 14 in. guns while your 3 'R' class BB's in the Indian Ocean all carried 15 in. guns. But the 'R' class BB's were slow as hell-- maybe 18 knots-- while the Jap BB's were much faster. So am I wrong in assuming there's no way your 3 'R' class BB's could run-down the Fuso/ Kongo group?

[KyzBP]

What's at Albany that Geekamoto can use? Is there an airfield and or port there? Or will he have to build facilities there? I recall, and please correct me if I'm wrong about this, the Fuso and Kongo had 14 in. guns while your 3 'R' class BB's in the Indian Ocean all carried 15 in. guns. But the 'R' class BB's were slow as hell-- maybe 18 knots-- while the Jap BB's were much faster. So am I wrong in assuming there's no way your 3 'R' class BB's could run-down the Fuso/ Kongo group?

I'll have to look edit this once I have the game up but I think it's the least "civilized" base he could've chosen, which might be why he chose it.  I believe it has a level 1 port and either no airfield or a level 1.  **Edit: Port 3, Airfield 1**

Yes, the Brit BB's are slow but I don't plan on using the BB's. ;)