WiTP: AE...An AAR: Egan(A) versus Happy Times(J)

Egan · 03-29-11, 04:23 PM

7th December 1941

The Pacific at the start of the war:

As my little virtual blokes go about their daily lives, a great big cloud of Japanese aircraft appears out of nowhere. The attack lasts what seems like forever.

Quote:Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 129 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 48 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 72
B5N2 Kate x 72
D3A1 Val x 135

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed by flak
B5N2 Kate: 14 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 3 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-18A Bolo: 3 destroyed on ground
B-17D Fortress: 2 destroyed on ground
P-36A Mohawk: 3 destroyed on ground
PBY-5 Catalina: 6 destroyed on ground
SBD-1 Dauntless: 3 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 4 destroyed on ground
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground
R3D-2: 1 destroyed on ground
A-20A Havoc: 1 destroyed on ground
O-47A: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CA New Orleans, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1
AV Tangier
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
SS Cachalot, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 6, on fire
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DM Ramsay
CM Oglala
BB California, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DM Gamble
AV Curtiss
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
xAP St. Mihel
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AVD Hulbert, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DM Breese, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Phelps, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AV Wright, Torpedo hits 1
CL Detroit, Torpedo hits 1

Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase hits 40
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 133
Port hits 9
Port fuel hits 7
Port supply hits 1

I'll be quite conservative when posting chunks of the combat report. AARs that use them heavily tend to be quite difficult to read IMO, and seldom tell you much more than the technical details.

As you can see from this one, though, plenty of torps and bombs get through to hit Battleship Row. The damage however, is lighter than I could hope for:

By lets_all_fight at 2011-03-29

Only California and Oklahoma are badly, badly damaged. All the battleships are going to need time in shipyards. With those two, they will need work ASAP to take down the flotation damage and not sink. Once they are stable I plan to send them to the west coast, probably to the big shipyard at Seattle.

I'm fairly pleased with this, though. Nothing has sunk which is always a good thing. The problem will be if Juha decides to keep the KB around for another day. I decide to send out several Surface Combat Task Forces and vector subs towards his location. Hopefully we can get a torpedo into one of his flat tops or even scare him away. I put out a couple of ASW TF's as well as Pearl is a sub magnet. They are fairly lousy at this time of the war but are better than nothing.

I also set all the fighter squadrons at Pearl to fly CAP missions at 15,000 feet. The one dive bomber squad is set to naval attack at 13,000 which is smack on the middle of the height band it needs to perform dive bombing. I don't imagine they'll any hits but you never know. The runway has taken a lot of damage and that will have an impact on how many frames I can put up. However, I'm optimistic I can do something. Every pilot from the KB that gets shot down now is one less to worry about later. They are probably the best quality pilots on the map at the start and between my CAP and Flak I hope to knock a few down.

DEI/Philippines

Juha hits Manila with several high sweeps to take out my CAP. It's partially successful and his port strikes sinks several subs as they sit at dockside. I don't like losing subs because even with the dud torpedos they are something of a force multiplier. The S boats and the Dutch boats in previous games have provided me with plently of delight and I'm hoping they do the same in this one. I also notice the Baby KB has been committed and is heading down the east coast of the PI. I am trying to evacuate high quality cruisers like the Boise from the area so I hope they don't cross paths.

Virtually all my shipping in the region is set to run to one of three places: Soerbaja in Java and Perth and Darwin in Oz. once at these ports warships will combine to create two or three decent quality raiding fleets which I hope to hurt his advance down here, and all other ships will make their way to places like Melbourne, Sydney or even Colombo.

I'm building forts in Manila, Clarke Field and Bataan. I plan to fight it out here although I probably won't move to many supplies in. This early on I simply don't have enough to spare anyway. The Cavite Island base force is told to start packing as it has 200 squads of naval support that will come in very handy later on. I'm tempted to rescue the 4th Marines as well but as they return later (much later) I'm not too worried. There is a facility in the game now to rebuild lost Land Combat Units for a PP price. I may well make use of this as time goes on. it certainly beats the older tactic of rescuing fragments of units in order to have them slowly build back up.

I send out all my subs from Manila to annoy his invasion fleets in the area. Some of them have orders to mine likely invasion beaches.

Elsewhere

Juha starts landing troops in Northern Malaysia. I'm already pulling troops back to form defencive lines outside of Singapore.

Force Z heads south and his attacked by a flock of the dreaded Betties. I hate them. They have extreme range and, when coupled with a source of torpedos like a large enough base or an Air HQ, they become real ship killers. The one good thing about them is that they are made of matchsticks and rice paper and can be brought down easily. Seriously, we're talking Stuka Party here. The problem is you never seem to have enough fighters to deal with them all.

In Sumatra troops begin moving towards Palembang.

And as I just deleted the entire blooming post by mistake and had to start again I think I'll take a break....

All in all, I've had worse first turns. Juha sent me the combat resolution turn already for the next round and I have to say, ouch, I made a silly mistake which cost me.

03-29-11, 04:23 PM	#7
Egan Admiral Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 2,020 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	7th December 1941 The Pacific at the start of the war: As my little virtual blokes go about their daily lives, a great big cloud of Japanese aircraft appears out of nowhere. The attack lasts what seems like forever. Quote:Weather in hex: Clear sky Raid detected at 129 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 48 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 72 B5N2 Kate x 72 D3A1 Val x 135 Allied aircraft no flights Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 7 damaged A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed by flak B5N2 Kate: 14 damaged B5N2 Kate: 3 destroyed by flak D3A1 Val: 5 damaged Allied aircraft losses B-18A Bolo: 3 destroyed on ground B-17D Fortress: 2 destroyed on ground P-36A Mohawk: 3 destroyed on ground PBY-5 Catalina: 6 destroyed on ground SBD-1 Dauntless: 3 destroyed on ground P-40B Warhawk: 4 destroyed on ground B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground R3D-2: 1 destroyed on ground A-20A Havoc: 1 destroyed on ground O-47A: 1 destroyed on ground Allied Ships BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire CA New Orleans, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1 AV Tangier BB Arizona, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire BB Nevada, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire SS Cachalot, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 6, on fire BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage DM Ramsay CM Oglala BB California, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage DM Gamble AV Curtiss BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire xAP St. Mihel BB Maryland, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire AVD Hulbert, Bomb hits 1, on fire DM Breese, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires DD Phelps, Torpedo hits 1, on fire AV Wright, Torpedo hits 1 CL Detroit, Torpedo hits 1 Allied ground losses: 10 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Airbase hits 40 Airbase supply hits 2 Runway hits 133 Port hits 9 Port fuel hits 7 Port supply hits 1 I'll be quite conservative when posting chunks of the combat report. AARs that use them heavily tend to be quite difficult to read IMO, and seldom tell you much more than the technical details. As you can see from this one, though, plenty of torps and bombs get through to hit Battleship Row. The damage however, is lighter than I could hope for: By lets_all_fight at 2011-03-29 Only California and Oklahoma are badly, badly damaged. All the battleships are going to need time in shipyards. With those two, they will need work ASAP to take down the flotation damage and not sink. Once they are stable I plan to send them to the west coast, probably to the big shipyard at Seattle. I'm fairly pleased with this, though. Nothing has sunk which is always a good thing. The problem will be if Juha decides to keep the KB around for another day. I decide to send out several Surface Combat Task Forces and vector subs towards his location. Hopefully we can get a torpedo into one of his flat tops or even scare him away. I put out a couple of ASW TF's as well as Pearl is a sub magnet. They are fairly lousy at this time of the war but are better than nothing. I also set all the fighter squadrons at Pearl to fly CAP missions at 15,000 feet. The one dive bomber squad is set to naval attack at 13,000 which is smack on the middle of the height band it needs to perform dive bombing. I don't imagine they'll any hits but you never know. The runway has taken a lot of damage and that will have an impact on how many frames I can put up. However, I'm optimistic I can do something. Every pilot from the KB that gets shot down now is one less to worry about later. They are probably the best quality pilots on the map at the start and between my CAP and Flak I hope to knock a few down. DEI/Philippines Juha hits Manila with several high sweeps to take out my CAP. It's partially successful and his port strikes sinks several subs as they sit at dockside. I don't like losing subs because even with the dud torpedos they are something of a force multiplier. The S boats and the Dutch boats in previous games have provided me with plently of delight and I'm hoping they do the same in this one. I also notice the Baby KB has been committed and is heading down the east coast of the PI. I am trying to evacuate high quality cruisers like the Boise from the area so I hope they don't cross paths. Virtually all my shipping in the region is set to run to one of three places: Soerbaja in Java and Perth and Darwin in Oz. once at these ports warships will combine to create two or three decent quality raiding fleets which I hope to hurt his advance down here, and all other ships will make their way to places like Melbourne, Sydney or even Colombo. I'm building forts in Manila, Clarke Field and Bataan. I plan to fight it out here although I probably won't move to many supplies in. This early on I simply don't have enough to spare anyway. The Cavite Island base force is told to start packing as it has 200 squads of naval support that will come in very handy later on. I'm tempted to rescue the 4th Marines as well but as they return later (much later) I'm not too worried. There is a facility in the game now to rebuild lost Land Combat Units for a PP price. I may well make use of this as time goes on. it certainly beats the older tactic of rescuing fragments of units in order to have them slowly build back up. I send out all my subs from Manila to annoy his invasion fleets in the area. Some of them have orders to mine likely invasion beaches. Elsewhere Juha starts landing troops in Northern Malaysia. I'm already pulling troops back to form defencive lines outside of Singapore. Force Z heads south and his attacked by a flock of the dreaded Betties. I hate them. They have extreme range and, when coupled with a source of torpedos like a large enough base or an Air HQ, they become real ship killers. The one good thing about them is that they are made of matchsticks and rice paper and can be brought down easily. Seriously, we're talking Stuka Party here. The problem is you never seem to have enough fighters to deal with them all. In Sumatra troops begin moving towards Palembang. And as I just deleted the entire blooming post by mistake and had to start again I think I'll take a break.... All in all, I've had worse first turns. Juha sent me the combat resolution turn already for the next round and I have to say, ouch, I made a silly mistake which cost me.