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I didn’t watch that video previously, and never really understood just how painful making these updates must be. Thanks again for doing this and hope the battle goes well!
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Apr 27, 2024 12:59
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What's the strike range on your carriers? Also, ominous: Alikchi posted:Hopefully nothing happens tomorrow! Alikchi posted:Anyhow, I haven't uploaded a turn to YouTube since the carrier battle in January 1943 but this next turn will require one. Otherwise it will take a week to screenshot and write everything I want to show and say.. Tuna-Fish fucked around with this message at 16:40 on Apr 27, 2024 |
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Apr 27, 2024 16:35
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HOpefully it has blood for the pixel god!
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Apr 27, 2024 18:14
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Depending how big the butchers bill is, with the way the Allies are starting to crap out ships and planes at a much better rate, even a 3:1 loss ratio might be a victory when they are starting to get replacements at 5:1
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Apr 27, 2024 18:29
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Cimber posted:Depending how big the butchers bill is, with the way the Allies are starting to crap out ships and planes at a much better rate, even a 3:1 loss ratio might be a victory when they are starting to get replacements at 5:1 Methinks for this mod they're not making the replacement ratio quite that bad. And still losing a lot of carriers hurts.
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Apr 27, 2024 18:34
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wedgekree posted:Methinks for this mod they're not making the replacement ratio quite that bad. And still losing a lot of carriers hurts. Oh, yeah. If Alikchi loses all his carriers and Pharn comes away without a scratch it'll be pretty disheartening, but recoverable.
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Apr 27, 2024 18:40
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Is there a discord server or a thread or something where we can talk about things that integrate knowledge from both LPs without the players seeing it?
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Apr 27, 2024 18:43
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I hope both Alikchi and Pharnakes coordinate and post their turns roughly at the same time
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Apr 27, 2024 20:53
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Cimber posted:Oh, yeah. If Alikchi loses all his carriers and Pharn comes away without a scratch it'll be pretty disheartening, but recoverable. Also Pharnakes has pretty much the entire Kido Butai parked in Singapore "repairing from sabotage" after the initial game was so lopsided, so an extra 4-6 IJN carriers are going to pop in sometime in the future.
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Apr 28, 2024 03:38
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Sorry to make you wait! June 5, 1943 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad4pMWTW_yI Turn replay! I’ll refer to timestamps below. South Pacific Carrier battle begins at 17:48. What can I say? He chased the assault transports and we were there to catch him. With a surprisingly small CAP. Where were Shokaku and Zuikaku’s Zeros? Wildcats and Hellcats push Taiho’s aside and the bombers descend (21:45). I think they’ve all sunk or been scuttled, though he might have a shot at saving Zuikaku. I had considered cutting the CVE loose so Scourge, Hamilton and Essex wouldn’t be limited by her speed. I’m very glad I didn’t - those Wildcats helped a lot.  Essex after the battle. What a start to the war for her! Neither side’s land-based aircraft had any appreciable impact on the battle outside of scouting: my B-25s and B-24s targeted Mili, the SBDs and TBDs based at Abemama were just out of range, and his Nells got shredded (28:52). Southwest Pacific Hellcat sweep straight into Rabaul today from Milne (10:37). It’s not a successful fight, but we know the scale of the effort necessary now. B-25s are now focusing on the naval guard unit at Lae as Australian infantry approach. Another squadron from Terapo keeps the pressure up on Umboi Island. An IJN-free New Guinea is possible.. In Australia, I keep bombing Gove, mostly with B-24s (26:40). He reaches out with lots of Helens and bombs Tennant Creek from Katherine. Just a few second-line aircraft there, except for a squadron of Dakotas. There isn’t much I can do to respond right now (that P-40 sweep over Katherine was my attempt at that, and that was a write-off). Well, two things I can do - use Wirraways and Boomerangs to provide CAP in these places, and earmark some P-47s for northern Australia. P-47s are coming! India Very sad to see the transports and HMS Cornwall sunk at the beginning of the turn (01:20). They had been bugged out in that hex for a couple of weeks now. I think this is my fault for doing a sloppy job expanding the map.. The P-40s pop up over Delhi again to counter Tojo sweeps (06:02), get a few kills, but are ground down over the course of the day. The airfield will be untenable soon.  His troops will reach Jodhpur any day now. Our bombers try to slow them down (25:48). Summary & Orders  Lots of dead Nells, but where are the ops losses? Did none of the three carriers actually sink? Well, all their aircraft probably diverted to Ailinglaplap or someplace. Maybe? code: Tomorrow, our carriers will race west a few hundred miles. Kumano, Tenryu and Tatsuta might be slow enough to finish off, if weather allows. If any of the three CVs remain afloat, we need to finish them off.  If the weather doesn’t allow for planes, maybe Admiral Scott can catch the enemy with his two modern battleships.
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May 2, 2024 18:27
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Can tell how happy you were with those mouse cursor squiggles in the carrier fight. It has to feel good to get a complete W finally.
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May 2, 2024 18:47
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Here's to hoping they stay down. Nice Attu fortress too.
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May 2, 2024 19:14
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WOOHOO I just absolutely love how you invade a completely strategically meaningless atoll that's too small to even put a real airfield on, but because Pharnakes felt like it merited a response you end up scoring your biggest victory of the war so far. This reads so much like so many real engagements from the war that it's not even funny.
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May 2, 2024 19:28
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Tuna-Fish posted:WOOHOO Yeah, that was precisely what I was thinking in the buildup to this moment watching both threads. Pharnakes has to be kicking himself to get into a fight over Ebon of all things.
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May 2, 2024 19:52
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Zurai posted:Can tell how happy you were with those mouse cursor squiggles in the carrier fight. It has to feel good to get a complete W finally. Yes! And exactly a year after Midway. Something about early June I guess, it'slikepoetryitrhymes Tuna-Fish posted:WOOHOO habeasdorkus posted:Yeah, that was precisely what I was thinking in the buildup to this moment watching both threads. Pharnakes has to be kicking himself to get into a fight over Ebon of all things. Yep! The best I'm going to get out of this is a level one airfield, and it will be weeks before it's operational. Look up "Ebon Atoll Airport" to see what the poor bastard engineers are dealing with. It could be important - a handy little airfield for fighters very close to the enemy, a lair for PT boats to menace the Marshalls - but it isn't yet. I imagine it was the specialized large amphibious stuff, AKAs, APAs, LSI(L)s, etc. I'm sure he knows they are a weak point for me. If the Marines had been stuck with xAP and xAKs invading Ebon we'd have been able to unload.. maybe a company of infantry, plus a few engineers with no vehicles and (most important) not nearly enough supplies. I am going to move right on to June 6, because things aren't quite finished around Ebon. June 6, 1943 South Pacific THUNDERSTORMS. The carriers are washed out and the battleships encounter nothing.  Our B-24s target Roi-Namur today. I think we will again tomorrow. Southwest Pacific  Several groups of B-24s target Darwin and get chewed up for their efforts. Not trying that again for a while.  We are applying more B-25s to the Gove problem.  Do not rebase air groups without checking their range settings. They were just following orders..  India  More grinding over Delhi. Today they clear the skies early and easily and dozens and dozens of Helens make free bombing runs. It’s time to leave..  There’s also a big focus on Jodhpur. The weather is our ally here. Some very large and coordinated airstrikes do much less damage than they might’ve thanks to the thunderstorms.   On the ground, we are being essentially herded by his tanks. It’s not very dignified.  I also mistime a counterattack that goes straight at his main body. Delhi is.. Days from being surrounded? Summary & Orders  That’s what a sunken carrier looks like. Our ratio would have been garbage today otherwise, look at all those SBD losses.  And our scouts report he still has one afloat. We will pursue. If I was him, I would’ve rebased the surviving carrier aircraft to Ailinglaplap, so this is dangerous. The weather looks good tomorrow, just overcast…
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May 2, 2024 20:36
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Good luck and good hunting!
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May 2, 2024 21:36
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How well setup is your garrison in Dehli? As far as numbers, supplies, fortifications, etc? And nice job catching a carrier!
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May 2, 2024 21:58
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June 7, 1943 Central Pacific .png) Poor Peto. Her first patrol, and she gets nailed by a Nell’s 250kg bomb. They fought the flooding for a couple of days. RIP. South Pacific  LCI-23, attempting to slip away alone from Ebon Island, is caught by I-169. .png) A couple things revealed here. One, the utility of Makin: we can send dozens of Corsairs and Hellcats ranging into the Marshalls without even needing drop tanks. Two, some of Taiho’s Zeroes at Ailinglaplap. Is Taiho still afloat? I assume they’re flying from the airfield; even if Taiho isn’t sunk I seriously doubt she can operate aircraft. .png) B-24s brush past the Corsair-mauled Zero CAP and score excellent hits on Ailinglaplap field. The B-25s nearby target Mili. .png) Ah! There’s one! SINK drat you. .png) God bless Spruance, he found another. .png) And an Avenger squadron finishes off a destroyer. Southwest Pacific The bombing of Gasmata, Umboi Island, and the Naval Guard garrison at Lae continues, using three or four B-25 squadrons. Thunderstorms over New Guinea/New Britain hamper our efforts there. Gove is bombed by B-24s. .png) B-25s too. I’m getting so many B-25s in several variants - it gives me great joy. Shattered B-26 squadrons, RAAF guys training in Ansons and Wirraways, they’re all upgrading or soon to upgrade to Mitchells. .png) RO-103 takes a potshot at my big minelaying group. It’s dangerous to group them all up like this, but I love being able to create a gigantic field of hundreds of mines in one go. In this case, at Kiriwina Island (2 hexes NE of Milne Bay). India .png) Today’s the last day we attempt to contest the air over Delhi, at least for some time. The Scythes, Hurricanes, and Warhawks have put up a brave fight. Further waves of Tojos grind them down as usual today. .png) By mid-morning, the Helens are bombing the airfield with impunity. (Another wave of 58 follows this one.) We will be flying out nearly all our serviceable aircraft tonight. A lot of damaged airframes will have to be shipped overland. And the escape route is about to close, I can’t keep Delhi from being encircled. .png) Another deep strike at Lahore. I’ve spread out my aircraft a bit more since the last raid. .png) We are still using what little bomber strength we have to delay the march on Jodhpur. These Canadian Venturas are astonishingly lucky to all make it home. .png) A follow-up. I expect Hyderabad to be bombed to poo poo tomorrow. .png) The main body of the IJA India Army - five infantry divisions, plus a hotde of tank regiments, engineers, artillery, AA and mortar units - pushes aside the remnants of the 10th Indian Div and are now in prime position to encircle Delhi. Two escape routes remain. The usual bombardments at Bangalore, Jubbulpore and Nander. I wonder if Delhi will last as long as Jubbulpore and Bangalore have. There’s plenty of supplies and nearly level 5 forts, but he has overwhelming numbers. Summary & Orders .png) Wow. That looks like Taiho and Shokaku’s aircraft to me. At least. Is Zuikaku still afloat somewhere? We did the least damage to her on the 5th, and haven’t spotted her since. .png) The Fun Police have been spotted charging east towards the Marshalls from the Palau area. With most of the CVLs off of India, and the heart of the Kido Butai damaged or sunk, this must be.. Tairyu and Donryu? Maybe more? Spruance will begin withdrawing back towards the relative security of the Gilberts, but I want to port-strike Kwajalein while I’m in range. Recon reports 40+ ships, mostly xAKs, patrol boats and so on. .jpg) And here’s Delhi. Supplies are getting sucked into building forts and repairing the airfield simultaneously. With the airfield untenable, base forces (particularly anything with aviation support) are loading onto railcars for their last-minute escape. With only ~500 AV to hold the place, a siege may not be necessary for the IJA.
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May 9, 2024 16:51
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Fun fact. IJN CV aircraft have unique names identifying what ship they are from. If you look closely at combat reports you can identify where they are flying from. Lots of CV aircraft coming from a base? That's a good sign.
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May 9, 2024 18:44
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Congrats on butchering the carriers and all the planes they had! Nice work. Your first major victory against the IJN in awhile! Looks like the Marshalls are going well so far.
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May 9, 2024 19:18
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So how are you going to fix India?
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May 10, 2024 04:02
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ChaosDragon posted:So how are you going to fix India? Japanese positions in India will become untenable when the Marines land in Indochina.  I mean, I assume. I don’t know what the Japanese supply lines are like with China being quiet.
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May 10, 2024 05:07
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wedgekree posted:Congrats on butchering the carriers and all the planes they had! Nice work. Your first major victory against the IJN in awhile! Looks like the Marshalls are going well so far. Yes! It's very heartening. I need to be a bit more methodical - I lost too many AKAs and APAs at Milne and Ebon - but we are picking up momentum. ChaosDragon posted:So how are you going to fix India? This is a good question. I expect maybe a few more months of mopping up. There just aren't enough Allied troops left to hold him back. The goal now is to occupy as much of the IJA as possible for as long as possible before he's shouting Banzai in Peshawar. Pirate Radar posted:Japanese positions in India will become untenable when the Marines land in Indochina. This is one answer to ChaosDragon's question: leave it be, force him to garrison the whole subcontinent and just beeline straight for Japan & China/Indochina. I might do this, if he cleans up India rapidly. Right now, I have an African brigade and (soon) an American infantry division garrisoning Diego Garcia - 24 hexes from Ceylon. Two British brigades garrison Socotra (26 hexes from Karachi), with more earmarked. These guys could form the core of a Ceylon landing force, but a serious invasion of mainland India needs to have something similar to the force he's wielding, 6 or 7 divisions - a full army. Plus clear naval superiority and lots of carrier support, naturally. Maybe I can accumulate such a force over the course of the next 9 months, with American help. But these are 1944 plans. On that note, an Allied re-invasion of India or (especially) Indochina next year could act as a starter gun for Nationalist China's re-entry into the war. President Wallace is very interested in supporting national liberation movements.. June 8, 1943 Central Pacific .png) HMCS Canso reports damaging an enemy submarine while escorting an empty convoy back to Pearl Harbor. SS Portmar is unscathed. .png) USS Hake, operating off Formosa, scores a hit. Liverpool Maru almost definitely won’t sink, but all functional Mark 14s should be celebrated. South Pacific .png) Massachusetts and SoDak lightly season Jaluit with 16 inch shells. The task force stays at ~15,000 yards to avoid fire from Jaluit Naval Fortress. With just the fortress, a Naval Guard unit and a small base force on the island, Jaluit looks more and more tempting. We have units planning for the invasion right now, as well as others set aside for Majuro and Maloelap. .png) Ailinglaplap, a level 4 airfield, is also a concern. The Makin Corsairs tangle with Taiho’s homeless Zeros. .png) Theater B-25s bomb Mili, with no opposition. The B-24s target Maloelap and are surprised by a combination of severe storms and A6M3s. The enemy is prevented from doing any serious damage by 50 cal turret fire. All thirteen Liberators drop their bombs on the airfield, but the Zeros and weather succeed in throwing off their aim. .png) Essex, Scourge, Hamilton and Prince William are smack in the middle of the Marshalls now, eager to pick off what they can before the fun police arrive. The Zeroes do well against our F6Fs, but not well enough. And once again, the CVE’s Wildcats overperform. Uji Maru and Yahada Maru are not built to withstand 1000lb SAP bombs. .png) The strike on Kwajalein isn’t the smashing blow I was hoping for, but Takashima and Jingei are important targets. .png) Nothing wrong with hitting destroyers at Jaluit, either! A shockingly successful few days for the barely-reconstituted Allied carrier fleet. Time to pull back. Southwest Pacific .png) RO-103 gets run over. .png) The bombing of Gasmata, Umboi Island, Lae’s garrison,Gove, and Shortlands continues. Good hits on Shortlands today, in particular. India .png) Fulmars .. you were too brave, too perfect, and too useless for it to end any other way.  Another 26 Nells follow this wave, but my remaining quality bombers escaped overnight..png) Heavy rain and a handful of fighters impede today’s Helen runs on Delhi. Most of the aircraft there have also escaped. (Or “escaped”, to primitive airfields on the Afghan border with zero support.) .png) A few shattered squadrons peck at the army advancing on Jodhpur, but his LRCAP takes many down. .png) Two more enemy divisions push across the river - the 37th Infantry and 2nd Guards. Now there is only one railroad out of Delhi. Summary & Orders .png) Solid! .png) DANGER. The enemy has spotted Hawkins and Frobisher, escorting a convoy of reinforcements for Diego Garcia. I’m sending them into port to avoid their sinking in open seas. If we’re lucky, the convoy will finish unloading its important cargo tomorrow and we can sprint the warships to safety at Cape Town or Mombasa before the hammer falls. .png) Another wave of refits. .png) Some notable intelligence today. Subs based at Soerabaja - or maybe she’s just using the small repair shipyard there? Either way, we should mine Soerabaja harbor. Plus, AA units and infantry heading for Truk. And a full division pointed at Tabiteuea. He is plotting out a response to my moves in the Gilberts & Marshalls, presumably. When he gets Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu and Soryu back, he could do a lot. Maybe he’s thinking of retaking the Gilberts, going right for the throat at Tabiteuea. I will have to prepare for that. Alikchi fucked around with this message at 18:27 on May 11, 2024 |
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May 11, 2024 16:39
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Good intel reports there, but do you know where the Yokohama Fortress is located?!?
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May 11, 2024 17:44
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Cimber posted:Good intel reports there, but do you know where the Yokohama Fortress is located?!? I am going to have to go to Japan to make sure. Lots of disinformation out there. Let's keep moving right along! It's the weekend, we're cranking out turns. June 9, 1943 South Pacific .png) Mississippi, Idaho, New Mexico and Colorado go in for another nighttime bombardment of Jaluit. The fire from Jaluit Naval Fortress has slackened significantly, lots of busted guns. Our invasion isn’t imminent, exactly, but this and the SoDak/Massachusetts bombardment two days ago are about knocking out as many of those 12.7cm, 14cm and 15cm guns as possible while the opportunity presents itself. .png) Despite all the bombing, Mili’s coastal defense batteries remain Extremely Operational and score a few 14cm and 15cm hits on our two Brooklyn-class CLs. Nothing serious. .png) The Makin Corsairs fly out at sunrise and find no enemies over Ailinglaplap. We’ll have to put them to a different use. .png) Meanwhile, our Liberators can finish knocking out the field. .png) B-25s add to the Jaluit garrison’s misery. .png) HMS Victorious, having just joined the American carriers, is very frustrated at barely missing the battle with Taiho, Shokaku, and Zuikaku. The Brits take it out on Mili’s airfield. Southwest Pacific .png) If they don’t defend Shortlands, we will knock it out, too. .png) Gove remains a tough target. The weather is against us here today. .png) Well, I guess I’ll accept the one runway hit. All these Dauntlesses will fly back to Milne Bay or Horn Island tonight, btw. .png) Rare Aussie Vengeance sighting. .png) I’m also giving the more talented B-25 squadrons in this theater secondary naval bombing orders. Range-limited, so they don’t get sucked into Rabaul’s CAP woodchipper. India .png) This is worrisome. I can’t stop a landing at Karachi, I sent the half-strength brigade garrisoning it to shore up Jodhpur. .png) I need to scrape the fighters I have left in India together. One last CAP trap. Another 26 Helens follow up this wave. .png) He’s finally arrived at Jodhpur, and it’s not really a contest. We’re a little behind in numbers and a lot behind in quality. Let’s see how long we hold. Summary & Orders .png) A relatively quiet day.
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May 12, 2024 01:07
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June 10, 1943 South Pacific  Torpedo hit on SoDak! Superficial damage, I think. B-24s focus on Ailinglaplap, destroying a few L2D2s on the ground, while B-25s hit Jaluit. Southwest Pacific HMAS Australia (ex-HMS Tiger) and HMNZS New Zealand (ex-HMS Lion) have not fired their weapons in anger for some time. Their 28 knot top speed is just a little too slow to be proper carrier escorts, and I’ve been avoiding sailing capital ships in this area since losing USS Oklahoma to Nells. But this is a good operation. Gove is thoroughly worked over, the BCs escape, and we have a little more intelligence on Gove. My question now is - has he pulled out everything except the 65th Brigade?  The Horn Island B-25s hit Gove a bit more, along with a few B-24s. After today, I think we can find some new targets. I have an idea, actually. The moonlight is getting better as we move through the month. Night bombing of Katherine?  The daily Gasmata bombing goes sour with a strong Rabaul-based CAP greeting the Aussies. Nasty losses, they’ll have to stand down for a few days at least. The Americans based at Terapo find no opposition over Umboi Island and bomb as usual.  You know, if I can knock out Shortlands and Guadalcanal, he’ll have no airfields at all in the Solomons. Not counting Tulagi’s smallish one.  A very good engagement. The Americans based at Normanton expected a counterstrike after yesterday, and they reap a bountiful Nell harvest.  More fighters are on-scene for the second wave. This should more than balance out our Mitchell losses today.  We also send in a silly, unescorted second wave, but the combination of bad weather and the B-25’s toughness rescues us from disaster.  Cabrilla is damaged enough to send back to Perth for some repairs. India  The bombing is intense, the trap is almost closed on Delhi, but the base forces and engineers that we needed to evacuate made it out on the last few trains. The RAF and friends in India are desperate for some time to rebuild (and build new airfields deep in Pakistan) but I doubt Japan will allow us a breather.  A successful shock attack at Jodhpur for the enemy. A few days left now? At least we’ll still have the longer rail connection through Hyderabad. Summary & Orders  Well. I didn’t think we’d shot down quite that many Nells. Also, all those A6M3a ops losses? Interesting stuff.  The IJN reinforcements? carriers? cruisers? are cruising slowly into the Marshalls while the Americans fade away south. Need better recon before I stick capital ship necks out again. Also, it's obvious, but the Gilberts are absolutely crawling with submarines right now.  USS Ambon, named in honor of the heroic Dutch defense in 1942, commissions.  America is experiencing a wave of Escort Carrier Fever. Children are asking "Mommy, can I be a CVE for Halloween?" They can’t get enough of the things.
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May 14, 2024 19:56
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Sometimes your brain just stops working for two weeks. Let’s get back to it! June 11, 1943 South Pacific  A swing and a miss. Southwest Pacific .png)  60% moonlight isn’t good enough! A few more waves of bombers get through to both targets, but the damage appears negligible overall. Also contributing to this minor fiasco: thunderstorms (over Katherine) and thick cloud cover (over Rabaul). Formations are broken up, aircraft get lost, aim is spoiled.  Duds are slightly more rare but the Mark 14 will continue to frustrate until 1944. .png) Daylight and we launch a big wave of fighter sweeps aiming at Rabaul itself. 24 Skyrockets, a squadron of Hellcats, lots of Corsairs.. They find only a few Rexes. Where are the fighters? .png) Aha. So, his fighters will be destroying my unescorted bombers while the fighters that would have escorted them dogfight a few Rexes over Rabaul.   Very bad! Beauforts escorted P-38s also go in but score no hits. .png) Two Avengers resist the Japanese siren song and bag a consolation prize for us. India  Jodhpur’s defenders continue to be bombed. Multiple waves, Helens too. Delhi and Hyderabad are bombed as well, the latter by the carriers loitering off Karachi. They have returned, and they’ll probably catch some transports of ours that I had hoped to slip in while they were gone. Unfortunately once you start off-map travel you cannot just “turn around.”  Another successful enemy river crossing. Two enemy divisions, near Ambala. After Ambala, it’s good roads all the way to Peshawar and the edge of the map. Summary & Orders  Ugh. He loses 40 Nells one day, I lose 36+ assorted bombers the next. And for basically the same reason! Additionally, if only I had trusted my sweeps and day bombed Rabaul instead of night bombed, we could have done real damage. Missed opportunities abound.  Can’t stop the SeaBees, though.  We’re getting AKAs and APAs at an astonishing rate. Alikchi fucked around with this message at 18:34 on May 28, 2024 |
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May 28, 2024 17:26
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June 12, 1943 South Pacific .png) H e l l o . .png) Makin’s new Level 3 airfield is immediately put to use.  It’s very convenient to run these as barges between the islands, but it’d be wise to escort them with a few PTs. Southwest Pacific  The Noumea-Brisbane route is a great hunting ground for IJN subs, but this one is unlucky.   We continue night bombing of Katherine and Rabaul. The B-24s stand down tomorrow, mostly, but I’m going to keep pressuring Rabaul with B-25s until Japan puts up a night CAP. .png) Groote bombed for the umpteenth time by multiple waves. Nothing much to hit though, just two P-40s are blown up on the ground. India  Still raining bombs at Delhi, probably will for the foreseeable future.  Jodhpur too. .png) Well, no more bombs for Jodhpur. He’s well on his way to Karachi now. Summary & Orders  All three of those Catalinas were shot down over Guadalcanal. Intriguingly strong enemy CAP. .png) This looks a hell of a lot like a bombardment task force & friends to me. Maybe carriers? In any case, our carriers are 15 hexes southeast of Abemama, most of the way to Canton Island where they will refuel and replenish. If he wants to do a surface fight, though, I’m game. The four US Standards are heading back into the Gilberts.
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May 29, 2024 03:35
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Decisive Surface Battle! Decisive Surface Battle! Decisive Surface Battle!
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May 29, 2024 05:30
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habeasdorkus posted:Decisive Surface Battle! Decisive Surface Battle! Decisive Surface Battle! *slamming fists on table* Rabble rabble rabble!
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May 29, 2024 05:54
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Surface fight! Surface fight! Surface fight! Winner takes all, subs see them fall.
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May 29, 2024 06:49
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No surface fight today, but I think it's coming.. it's been a while since we had a good one, hasn't it? June 13, 1943 South Pacific .png) We pick off a few more Rexes over Kwajalein. .png) I brought in another Hellcat squadron to escort the Mitchells. While the sun shines, we bomb Kwaj harbor. RIP midget subs! You would have performed magnificently in the Decisive Battle but it was not to be. Southwest Pacific .png) More daylight bombing of Groote from Katherine. I’m really torn about northern Australia. It makes strategic sense to stop focusing on Darwin, Katherine, Broome etc. But I am trying to keep things vaguely plausible and I don’t think the Allies just accepting the occupation of Northern Australia is believable. So I want to keep up some pressure, keep all those Helens and Nells and fighters at Katherine and Darwin instead of somewhere else, while I come up with a decent plan to liberate it all. The plan cannot be “march through the desert with inadequate air cover” because we tried that. I wish I could build the Stuart Highway in this game. Maybe I can negotiate some house rule to edit our pwhexe.dat file.. We are taking some steps. I’m shipping some engineers in to Merauke to occupy the place and start building up the facilities. Even if it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s a free base to occupy and draws attention. .png) The aforementioned Darwin Nells visit Portland Roads today. Not bad hits but not a knockout blow. I hate to dedicate fighters to provide constant CAP so far from the “front”, but only fast planes can even catch the G3M3. Maybe I’ll shuffle in a few rebuilding squadrons. Mostly, I’m just happy he still hasn’t done any port attacks. Lots of valuable shipping has been stacking up in Portland Roads, Cooktown, Cairns and Townsville ever since we took Milne Bay. .png) A shockingly successful sweep. The Corsairs tear through A6M3s. This is the first of several squadrons ranging over Rabaul today. .png) Our second wave is roughly handled by the Tojo swarm. .png) Third wave also iffy. But that’s okay! .png) Fourth wave is Warhawks. The Tojo is really a frustrating opponent. The absence of the Oscar from the frontlines is deeply felt. .png) And finally, a squad of Skyrockets. The weakest of all. I’ve found they really shine as escort fighters, when they’re willing to tag along with the bombers. But these long-range sweeps are very hard on them. They’ll be fully phased out in favor of modern P-47 and P-38 variants by next year. .png) I’ve had a large Allied task force, including HMS Hermes and an American escort carrier, hovering near Milne Bay for a couple of days now. Hoping for a shot at that Japanese surface task force. We find it, but the Zeroes tear our strike apart. I think that’s a series wrap for the Sea Hurricane. The Martlet will be a perfect fit for Hermes, once an FAA squadron that can convert to it makes it to Australia. .png) Port Moresby gets off a well-escorted strike! No Avengers are lost, but too many miss. India .png) The Helen Death Star is now trained on Amritsar. .png) And the IJA main body has arrived in Delhi. Portentous. Summary & Orders .png) Not perfect but solid. Bloody day. .png) Yesterday’s inaccurate scouting reports have been superceded. A battleship force and a carrier force. That’s got to be Tairyu, Donryu, Junyo and Hiyo right? Maybe Chuho? I’ve forced myself not to dig into Japan’s scenario files to check things. It’s been years since I chose the arrival dates - and we’re using slightly variable start dates on top of that! - so I’m genuinely not sure how many carriers he has operational right now. A nice frisson of uncertainty on top of everything. Anyways, the carriers turn right back around after spending one night in Canton Island. Some fighting is very possible tomorrow. I have lots of surface forces moving to tangle with those cruisers near Milne. Bad idea to play around with Kitakami at night, I know, but I have so many big guns nearby..
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May 30, 2024 19:14
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June 14, 1943 South Pacific .png) Clear skies and no opposition over Kwajalein today! More 500 pound bomb hits. Note all the enemy task forces hovering angrily at Mili, four hexes north of Makin. Southwest Pacific .png) .png) Night naval battle! We stumble right into them, with radar only detecting the enemy at 7,000 yards. .png) The battle itself is a high-speed close-range mess. Everyone immediately spams their torpedoes, everyone misses. New Zealand gets a solid 13.5 inch hit on the light cruiser Kinu, and Dorsetshire knocks out one of Nachi’s 20cm turrets. But Nachi and Chokai get the better of the County-class cruisers, hitting Dorsetshire's sister Devonshire with everything from her main armament to 25mm guns at 2,000 yards. Devonshire sinks shortly after the engagement. Full combat report follows: code:.png) Just a little hint of how much worse it could have been. HMAS Australia’s mediocre torpedo defense system makes me extra glad this was a miss. .png) We continue a smattering of night bombing missions. It’s hard not to roll the dice when the moonlight’s so good. This is the best outcome we got. India .png) We have successfully delivered 20,000 supplies to Karachi and should get away clean. The timing and weather couldn’t have worked out any better for us. .png) Ambala continues to suffer Helenization. 130+ today. .png) Over in Delhi, it’s time for daily bombardments. The grind begins. I feel relatively optimistic here. Level four forts, upwards of 20K supplies, good terrain. Tie down the maximum number of enemy troops for as long as possible. Delay delay delay. .png) Kind of grim to get a new British cruiser the same day we lose one. Step right up fellas! Summary & Orders .png) Almost nobody got shot down today. All the real action at sea, an odd one. .png) Further evidence of the ongoing reinforcement of Japan’s Central Pacific holdings. Look, a third of an infantry division for Ailinglaplap! .png) Every other ship in the HMAS Australia/HMNZS New Zealand TF’s ammo is similarly drained, so it’s back to Townsville to restock. The Dutch cruiser Java is somehow perfectly fine after taking a direct 20cm hit. .png) RIP. A heavy cruiser is no small loss. Tangling with Tanaka at night, even with the bigger guns and the radar and/or surprise, is so, so risky. Alikchi fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Jun 1, 2024 |
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Jun 1, 2024 04:41
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Everyone: We want a decisive surface battle! Alikchi: we have a decisive surface battle at home. The decisive surface battle at home: quote:Night Time Surface Combat, near Normanby Island at 103,133, Range 7,000 Yards
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Jun 1, 2024 11:12
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The Suffolk that just arrived and the Devonshire that were sunk were both County class heavy cruisers. Funny. Any luck mining things?
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Jun 1, 2024 13:51
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I feel like this is the perfect encapsulation of the Allied experience in WitP. "We lost a heavy cruiser last night. It's replacement arrived this afternoon."
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Jun 1, 2024 16:40
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smdvogrin posted:I feel like this is the perfect encapsulation of the Allied experience in WitP. It's very true. Washington and Warspite have also been buzzing around the Coral Sea, I wonder if they would have done any better than the ANZAC fleet. Cimber posted:The Suffolk that just arrived and the Devonshire that were sunk were both County class heavy cruisers. Funny. Sub minelaying TFs are out right now, first targets are Soerabaja and the chokepoint hex next to Rabaul. June 15, 1943 North Pacific .png) A disturbing number of Japanese aircraft spotted by our ships off Attu today. Probably just Emilys (Emilies?), but I shuffle a PBY squadron further forward to be safe. South Pacific .png) .png) Big enemy surface force off Makin, sweeping away our PT boats. And when I see Settsu I think bombardment (or invasion). .png) That hurts, that’s our forward airfield in this theater. We still need a couple weeks for Ebon to be usable. I summon some more PT boats from the aether and give them no-retreat orders. At least fire your torpedoes before you run away! We’re sending the CM USS Salem and a pair of destroyer-minelayers from Australia to Tabiteuea to help with this situation. In the meantime, we have enough engineers to hopefully repair fairly quickly. The flyable aircraft of Makin head for Tabiteuea as well to avoid follow-up attacks. .png) Our B-24s focus on Roi-Namur today, but we’re going all in on Mili tomorrow. Recon could be wrong but it looks like he’s flown fighters back in. Southwest Pacific .png) .png) .png) Our B-25s keep plinking away with night bombing of Rabaul and now Lunga too. He counter-plinks with Nells at Portland Roads. We all do very little damage to each other. .png) It’s dangerous to send subs into coastal areas and straits like this, but sometimes that’s where the targets are. .png) Impressive hit rate - and good escort work keeping that many Zeroes away from the TBFs. India .png) We can scrounge up a couple of fighters here at best. I have lots of squadrons huddling up here, but there’s no infrastructure, no supply to build it, very little supply to take in replacements, pools mostly empty of replacements... level one airfields everywhere.. I could go on, it’s bleak. The engineers that escaped from Delhi (and a few other units, including several that just spawned in Karachi) are en route to Peshawar, Jacobabad, Quetta, Lahore, and so on to throw together some airfields with facilities worthy of a last stand. .png) Hopefully the geographic distance between Delhi and the Indus buys us some time, but really, he’s already only 5 hexes from Lahore. Soon: our backs to the Hindu Kush. Summary & Orders .png) Those Hellcat and Corsair losses to the bombardment hurt. Those airframe pools, especially the Corsair’s, are not infinite, and this early Corsair model is a maintenance nightmare for the Marines flying it. .png) Another wave of 6/43 shipping upgrades commences as the first completes. .png) We’re feeling brave after being reinforced by Victorious. The carriers will sail west with their escorts and engage the enemy.
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Jun 2, 2024 01:13
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MORE SURFACE ENGAGEMENTS! BLOOOOOOD!!
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Jun 2, 2024 01:33
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June 16, 1943 North Pacific .png) I love the fishy American submarine names. Good job, Grayling. South Pacific .png) Our carriers are positioned for a fight, but the enemy is pulling north out of range. .png) One squadron of Avengers goes for a secondary target, Mili’s airbase. .png) A Dauntless squadron ranges a bit further to strike an enemy transport at Majuro. The Japanese fleet hovers in the center of the triangle formed by Majuro, Maloelap, and Ailinglaplap. The ideal scenario for him is to bait me into a carrier fight with extra bonus fighter cover from all the Japanese airbases surrounding his task forces so I will… not do that. Southwest Pacific .png) Just a few fighters here, serving as LRCAP for a small convoy. .png) Ah, he wants to strafe the convoy! The 20mm and 13.2mm hits don’t do much, but it’s nice to see a low level naval attack. I’m training a squadron of B-25Gs to do exactly that. .png) Horn Island becoming more useful just in time for the Merauke operation. Which has so far been bloodless. Troops are being flown in by C-47 with others en route by sea. .png) Horn Island also hosts these extra-accurate B-25s. Gotta keep Gove unusable. .png) Gotta keep Umboi Island unusable as well, at least until we capture it. Troops are currently being staged forward to Milne Bay for this purpose. .png) Tagula Island is a level three airbase and so it gets a B-25 squadron, too. I don’t think I’ll take Shortlands, but I will cut Guadalcanal off at Munda. There’s an infantry regiment fully prepped for this. Summary & Orders .png) Four Emilies in one day? Expensive. .png) More interesting morsels. Our last report on the 39th Division (November 6 42) placed it at Shangai. The 43rd is a new formation, I believe. It would be funny if Japan went for Midway a third time but I’m pretty sure that’s chaff or wishful thinking, like Ndeni. .png) In addition to all the troop movements reported by SIGINT, recon is spotting a massive buildup of enemy aircraft in the Marshalls. We’ll continue staying just out of decent range for single-engined bombers, 10 hexes or so. We will also make hay while the sun shines and surge another wave of engineers and reinforcements towards Ebon, hopefully taking advantage of this 2 or 3 day period with carrier cover. The level 1 airfield is 25% complete.
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Jun 3, 2024 19:09
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