13th August

His ships are back at Guadalcanal. Intel shows several Battleships, Cruisers and escorts but I don't seem to see any cargo vessels so It's perhaps not a resupply run. The carriers seem to have come back north a little bit so he obviously wants their muscle for something - slightly risky considering they are liable to be slightly low on fuel.

I've re-tasked some subs to move further south. Even if he spots them before they get a hit in they might frighten him into moving around and further reducing the carriers time on station.

My Zeroes continue to excel - they shoot down 4 US aircraft for the loss of one today as well as damaging a pair of B-17s. I've taken them off sweep for the next couple of days because there aren't many of them and fatigue levels are rising.

My Bettys bombed the US troops on Guadalcanal without any noticable effect. I've rearmed them with torpedoes and given them orders to carry out naval strikes. I think CCIP might be moving supplies and troops into Morespby and would like to tred on his toes a bit. Once again, I wish I could specify what I want them to fly naval strikes against as I do not trust the logic behind 'Commanders choice'.

Supply ships are unloading at Rabaul now, which gives me a bit of leeway, and I have a small convoy heading to Shortlands. next step will be to get Engineers there too.


http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/5117/update5f.jpg

As you can see, US ships and IJN subs are now in close proximity. Hopefully there will be some fireworks over the next couple of turns. Hopefully.

Don't you just love it when you write a long thread and then you screw up and the internet eats it?

14th August - I think

Well now! Ms. Betty makes her proper debut by sinking a destroyer of the coast of Guadalcanal. as usual, she cocks her snook at the big, slow, big, juicy target AKs bobbing at anchor and goes for the tiny, very fast and heavily armed DDs. Still I cannot complain too much. This is my first naval kill of the campaign so the crew of that particular Betty will be getting extra cheese sandwiches tonight for tea.

At the opposite end of the success ladder, sub I-171 closes on one of the carrier groups under the cover of darkness, but rather than hold his nerve until a flat top hovers into his periscope views, he whacks out a torpedo at the first ship he sees. This, unfortunately, is a destroyer who decides to punish I-171's limp assault by calling his mates and twatting the hell out of him with depth charges. 1-171 is last seen spiraling towards the ocean floor after taking 16 depth charge hits. There probably won't be any survivors, I reckon.

To aid my sub skippers, who are probably all hopped up on some sort of Samurai derring-do, I have had my aides prepare a couple of easy to follow cheat cards to help them with their difficult choices:

Card A: A good choice of target:

http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/2812/dummy1.jpg



And Card B: A bad choice of target:

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/7751/dummy2.jpg

Hopefully, they will find this useful. Idiots.

In other news, I've withdrawn my star Zero detachment from Lae to Rabaul where they will refit with extra aircraft. They won't be able to do this straight away because, irritatingly, Rabaul is 100 supply units short of the 20000 required to replace aircraft. The little convoy at Ponape is currently loading my windfall cargo and will deposit here as soon as they can.

Shortlands is also being resupplied just now, and an engineer unit is loading at Rabaul for transfer to the Solomons where they will begin to build an airstrip.

A new wing of Bettys arrived at Truk, ate some sandwiches and refueled and tootled off the Rabaul where they will fly a port trike against Moresby to break them in (or simply break them if the CAP remains stiff,) In a couple of days I'll get them flying strike missions against shipping in the Solomons.

Thoughts

Whilst my Bettys may have underperformed a bit so far, I reckon hitting that destroyer may result in a stiffer CAP from the carriers over Guadalcanal for the next couple of says. CCIP might feel that any supply shipping is at risk. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll move his carriers closer. We can but hope.

I've tasked the glens carried by subs of the Australian coast to begin snooping Sydney and Brisbane. I'm curious as to what sort of assets he has here just now. Intel from Moresby suggests he has over 100,000 men present which must be nonsense. I'd imagine it's closer to a tenth of that; his unrestricted US troops are mostly going to be committed to the Solomons and he can't afford to buy out his restricted Australian troops yet.

:har: Oh dear, that is brilliant. Good luck in re-educating your Japanese submarine commanders.

15th of August

The speed we are able to turn, err, turns around is refreshing after the grand campaign where you can easily spend two whole days staring at pilot training stuff.

A good turn - no, a great turn - in parts.

Sea War

We trade blows from our subs with CCIP coming out ahead when S-38 (a carrier of USN torpedoes that actually work,) sinks one of the transports inbound to Shortlands. Evidently, his sub skippers are a bit challenged too for this one attacks the ship that didn't have 700 Japanese soldiers being seasick over the side. If he'd chosen his target better I would have been down one engineering battalion....Phew....

I suggested that my sinking of a Destroyers might worry him into recommiting his carriers. It seems I was right: they moved back to a position about a hex off the eastern coast of Tulagi - just beyond my nearest sub as luck would have it. They flew some bombing missions over Guadalcanal to no great effect.

Air War

Oh, happy days! My Bettys have discovered how to actually fight!

The first raid on Moresby by my new arrivals badly damages an AVP (an aircraft tender, If I remember right,) setting it on fire and leaving it listing at anchor.

Even better, the Bettys return in the afternoon and catch a couple of boats just beyond the harbour. Multiple torpedo hits put an xAP and AMC Kamimba under the waves. Rumour has is that a new carrot-and-stick initiative by Combined Fleet HQ, aimed at getting the air crews working harder is having an effect, as can be clearly seen in the photograph below:

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8117/joke1l.jpg


I do have problems elsewhere, though. My Zeroes are being slowly thinned out and although they have done pretty well, the war is beginning to take it's toll on their numbers. It's still two days or so until my carriers arrive so I need the land based fighters to hold on for a little while longer.

I post a shot of aircraft losses for the campaign so far:

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/6...lairlosses.jpg

As you can see, Zero losses have been pretty heavy. A large number of them died in the skies above Guadalcanal when they were escorting my bombers against the invasion fleet. Since then, though, they have been slowly whittled down. The squadron on Lae now has only 1 serviceable aircraft.

Ground War

With the sea sick engineers now unloading on Shortlands, the airbase can begin to be built up. I have a squadron of Vals at Rabaul who will move in as soon as possible. That should give CCIP puase for thought when he starts moving along the Slot. I'll need fighters too, mind, and they might not be so easy to find.

Of greater urgency is the need to resupply the troops at Tassaforonga. They're running low on Johnny walker black label and cheese sandwiches. Even worse, there's not a single jar of Branston pickle to be found on the entire island! If it goes on like this they might have to start on the Dreaded Cold Collation - and nobody wants that!

Since CCIP took care of my entire fleet of fast transports this puts me in something of a bind. Supplies are being shipped by air but not in enough quantities to help very much. The patrol aircraft doing the runs are badly needed for other more essential jobs like find where his flat tops are at. Subs are an option but suffer from tiny cargo spaces and I would need to put at least half of them on supply duty to have much luck.

The other option is to get barges running along from Shortlands. Due to a lack of supplies, though, this isn't doable at the moment. The Dreaded Cold Collation it will have to be.

Oh, I almost forgot: an AR (repair ship,) arrived at Truk. Whilst it doesn't give me the most important benefits of a shipyard, it will help patch up most minor damage. It could well be a lifesaver.

I was just looking over the list of ships due to arrive with the carriers - oh my! Parity at last!

What do they get if they sink a carrier, a Bacon Butty? :yep:

Bacon butties are reserved for the officer class. Combined Fleet HQ believes the chances of our aerial idio....sorry brave Betty crews sinking a carrier to be somewhat lower than Tokyo Rose showing objectivity on her radio show.

However, should the unlikely actually happen, the heroic crew will be allowed a ham salad bap as salad is good for you and will make them fight harder! Banzai! or Bonsai! if they are vegetarian.

I resisted through the Egan vs. Happy Times AARs. This time, getting the story from both sides, was way too much and a boxed copy of WiTP:AE is making its way towards Finland as we speak. Naturally I already downloaded it too :DL

Keep up the good work, as this story is a joy to follow. I know how much time it takes to produce good AARs such as yours and CCIP's, so I truly appreciate the trouble you both go through to give the audience a little something.

:har:

What alternatives do you have to the Zeroes for fighters? Also, I thought that during the Guadalcanal battles the Japanese still had an edge in the air with their pilot experience and Zeroes over the Wildcats.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...-butty-001.jpg

=

http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/Ac...6871-19838.jpg

:up:

:D

Now that's a man happy to see the bacon. Too much Dreaded Cold Collation, I think.


The Zeroes out perform every current allied fighter. So far I've faced P-40s, P-39s and FM2 Wildcats. In ever case they have proven to be superior. My pilots are pretty damn good as well. Many of them have experience into the 90s. Problem is that I don't have nearly enough. I start the campaign with less than 40 spread across three units. Two of those units are now down to less than 5 in total, whilst the other one is running escort missions mainly, and haven't hit too many problems yet. I total, I have 13 operational. Not great. On top of this, I'm losing good pilots to B17s and that sort of things. The 4e bombers are a nightmare to defend against. I never really listened to what Japanese players used to say about them because I am mainly an Allied player - but wow, were they right. the 17s can shrug off anything, it feels like.

The simple fact is that I've shot down far more of his fighters than he has of mine. In fact, in general I'm leading the air battle, but it's a numbers game, and he has the upper hand just now.

Whilst I get a number of other squadrons of Zeroes, the vast majority of them are part of carrier air I get a few other squads here and there but not a huge number. At the end of the year I get two wings of Oscars (36 aircraft apiece - I don't know much about Japanese formations: does this size count as a squadron or a wing? I've don't know.)

Another problem is the way the game handles aircraft replacement. I have about 18 zeroes in the pool just now but can't get at them because of the requirements - a base must have a size one airfield and at least 20,000 points of supply. Rabaul has the first of those but not the second. I'm further limited by the way supply works in the smaller campaigns:

Obviously, we are playing on a small regional map rather than the whole thing. Because of that supply is abstracted. rather than running convoys off the map, certain bases create an amount of supply each day. For CCIP, those bases are Sydney and Noumea, for me it's Truk. I don't know the amount that CCIP gets each day but I get about 1500 (and fuel,) and from that 1500 I need to supply all my bases...it's not nearly enough. I'm already working on closing down bases I don't need to keep supplied. CCIP has some leeway here but he already realises that he won't keep everywhere open. Them's the breaks.


@Fincuan: Good stuff. You won't regret it. Well, the first time you start the grand campaign to have a look you might...but then..you get carriers! and it all falls into place! :yeah:

OK, lets get down to brass tacks:

16th August or there abouts

Sea War

Darwin award nominee Commander W Matsuki excels himself by sweeping some allied mines with the bow of his submarine. Sneaky CCIP has mined the approaches to Tassaforonga! This is bad - but wait! I have no ships that can actually get to Tassaforonga so the joke is on him! Haha! Needless to say, RO-68 is available for all your salvage windfall needs - if waterlogged Japanese submariners are your thing.

Seriously, though. This might cause me problems later on. I'll have to make sure I can clear a path through any field he leaves here. I found out I actually have more Fast transports arriving with the rest of the ships in a day or two so I''ll need to move this top the top of my list of priorities.

His carriers continue to bump their way around the seas south of Guadalcanal, which means he's burning fuel and decreasing station time. That's a good thing. In a perfect world, he'd stay out with about 10 aircraft sorties left when my own carriers make an appearance. That would be sweet, and by sweet I mean totally awesome. Never gonna happen though.

Now, Clued up observers might ask why I don't do some minelaying of my own. The answer is: I'd love too but I don't seem to have any mines. The code for mine production was nerfed between the original game and this edition to stop people using gamey tactics. As a result, I don't have any just now. Boo!

Air War

Actually, pretty quiet. My Bettys flew over Moresby again, but, sated on cheese and pickles sarnies, they did nothing of any note. I'm going to ask them to bomb the airfield at Moresby for a couple of days on the off chance he's overstacked the place.

Thoughts

Holding on for the time being. Almost there....

Thanks. I enjoy doing the AAR. I find it helps me focus my thoughts towards the game more than if I was simply playing it. it also helps me keep my hand in writing wise in these days when I'm doing none of it for money. It also helps that I type really quick - as may be obvious from the spelling errors. :03:

Actually, it's not that hard. I just make everything up. I get CCIP to tell me what the AI did in his game whilst I play Call of Duty or whatever all the cool kids are playing these days. :D

I love reading AARS. Always have done. My favourite AAR ever is a WiTP:AE game over at Matrix - I've mentioned it before - it's called 'Bring me the head of Diego Garcia....and the mayor of Addu atoll too!'. The title should give you a good idea of the genius contained within it. Don't fall for the trap of thinking it's all laughs, though; the two guys that write it, Cap Mandrake and Sprior, know their stuff inside out - despite what they might say.

Now, if CCIP asks, I've gone to bed. I have a days holiday left tomorrow but I am awaiting delivery of a new 24" monitor and a spanking new shiny TM Warthog HOTAS system as my ancient X-52 is going west. I need my rest so I can spend the morning squealing like a little girl before I realise that none of it works.

Damn it Egan, I might just have to buy WiTP now. Your AAR's are always a blast to read. It's even better because both of you aren't able to see the others threads so only we the readers have an idea of whats going on in both players heads.

Keep it up mate. Looking forwad to some big fireworks when your naval forces arrive.

17th August

A middling day at the office.

Sea War

Greenling makes two attacks on an ASW tf south of Truk but escapes both times by diving below the depth charge pattern. Greenling seems to enjoy annoying my ships, even if he hasn't dome any damage yet. He won't have things his own way for much longer, though...

Air War

The results of the bombing raid on Port Moresby's airstrip are mixed. I lose two of the precious Zeroes and three Bettys with 6 more damaged (although not badly it seems,) another Zeroe is written off after a bad landing. Although the game claims I only shot down 2 of his P-39s in the air, the Air losses table points to 6 of the little rascals going west today - I'm assuming some of the bombs made their mark on the ground. I've stood down the Bettys for a day or two - to preserve the Zeroes more than anything else.

Several other air missions were scrubbed due to the weather, including the resupply flights into Tassaforonga where the situation is becoming critical.

Ground War

I have a unit of SNLF arrive at Truk. They are given orders to prepare for Moresby.

The Future

Tomorrow is a big day. The count down is almost over!

18th August

Very quiet turn. I grounded the GM4s and nothin much flew. A couple of Bomber raids passed over Buna but did little damage except to get another P-39 chewed up by the two Zeroes still flying.

S-38 took a shot at another one of my E-boats as it escorted the supply convoy back from Shortlands. This is like the third time the idiot has tried this. It's good to know it's not just my sub commanders who are a bit excitable.

So that's it. Now, there was something else...Oh, yes....



Christmas came early. I got my monitor and TM Warthog and, best of all, the Emperor game me lots and lots and lots of warships to help the campaign!

OK, Here's a rough breakdown of what I got:
2 CVs (Shokaku, which is Japanese for 'totally awesome', and Zuikaku which is Japanese for 'totally sweet'.)
1 CVL
1 CVE (sans airgroups unfortunately,)
3 BB
12 cruisers (heavy and light)
34 (34 - count 'em!) Destroyers
5 fast transports
8 subs
over 30 other ships, including fleet oilers, patrol boats, minelayers, xAks and Auxiliary craft.

As we speak, an aircombat Tf (KB1) consisting of both the fleet carriers and the jeep carrier are preparing to head towards the Solomons. after a couple of days of scaring the bejesus out of the marines and hopefully knackering CCIP's supply attempts, They will move towards PNG where they will raid Moresby. I might raid one of his northern Oz bases too, if I'm in a cheeky mood...

With KB1 are three surface groups consisting of battleships, cruisers and a load of destroyers, and an ASW task force, just in case. The fast transports are loading for Tassaforonga but I might hold them back at Shortlands until I get a minesweeper down there. I don't want to do that, though, until the air groups have sanitized the area.

I'm still debating what to do with the subs. I'm leaning towards using them for resupply runs but I'm also looking at choking the life out of Noumea.

The Bettys will rest up tonight and tomorrow as well. I'll get them airborne again when the carriers are in a position to provide CAP.

Lastly, two resupply convoys are readying in Truk: one with fuel and one with Supplies. Both will go to Rabaul. Fuel is going to be my limiting factor now as a full sized carrier fleet could drink Saudi Arabia dry in a single visit.

Which battleships do you have available to you? Full fledged BBs like Nagato? Or obsolete ones like Fuso/Ise?