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wedgekree posted:Given Enterprise is coming back online in a month or two, will she get her '43 refit done? That added better radar and a ton of AA?  That isn't available until October, unfortunately, so she'll get at least a few months of running around as-is. I actually am shocked at how long this last Chicago Piano 1.1" hangs around. May 26, 1943 Central Pacific  Scattering away from Tone, Vitus Bering runs into I-5 and sinks. No sign of Tone today, incidentally, and no engagement from our cruisers. Repulse will continue a bit to where I think Tone might be. South Pacific  Mili airfield and port continue to receive B-25 and B-24 attention. I also drop a few bombs on Maloelap, mostly to point out that I can. Makin’s SNLF garrison continues to be bombed. Tomorrow is the big day! I’ve decided to hesitate no longer. Southwest Pacific  Amberjack takes a hit stationed in this crucial hex, but gives us a good look at a very large cruiser task force.  A parallel situation here. Hood, Algerie and company get away clean, and Le Triomphant uses up all her ASW ammo damaging RO-107 and forcing her to dive. But the exactness of the information in the combat report makes them more salient for him than vague Emily spotting reports or whatever. Anyhow, they were at Horn Island briefly - I was considering a bombardment run on Gove. But they’re just a smidge too slow to be completely safe from Nells in a night attack. I might try a bombardment with just fast cruisers along the same route.  Nicely coordinated and aimed B-25 attack on Umboi. Beginning to really appreciate the Mitchell. Gove airfield continues to be bombed by B-24s and swept by P-40s. .png) Gasped when I saw the first dud torpedo. Very good! India  …  A lot of this. It’s hard to watch our resistance visibly slacken. There’s just not much reason to hold back and rebuild anymore. He’s across the river from Delhi!  And that’s the Karachi operation scuttled for lack of usable airfields. The aircraft are shipped out by rail to be repaired in..Lahore? Lahore for now it is.  The follow-up from the carriers also hurts. Light industry, producing supply, is precious to me right now.  But this is the real hammer blow. The endless waves of infinite Tojos over Delhi begin. Summary & Orders  Just completely unsustainable losses in India.  We commissioned a new AK and TK on the West Coast today.
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Apr 11, 2024 21:42
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So what's your garrison/supply/fort situation at Dehli like? It going to have to be another meatgrinder seige?
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Apr 11, 2024 22:58
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RIP india, hope the japanese raj is slightly nicer
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Apr 11, 2024 23:30
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I wonder how many AV he's going to need to garrison India, and how much free AV he's going to have. What would he be able to do with those troops? Move them towards Australia? Fortify the central pacific? That's a lot of troops to go on transport ships, nice that subs torpedoes don't bonk as much.
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Apr 12, 2024 00:07
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wedgekree posted:So what's your garrison/supply/fort situation at Dehli like? It going to have to be another meatgrinder seige? See post below, but I hope to draw it out and avoid being encircled for as long as possible. ThatBasqueGuy posted:RIP india, hope the japanese raj is slightly nicer Pretty much! I will draw it out as long as I can, though. Eventually China will "activate" under our house rules (we haven't really discussed the details, but I have a couple of ideas) and bleeding Japan's manpower and device pools does help my long term goals. Cimber posted:I wonder how many AV he's going to need to garrison India, and how much free AV he's going to have. What would he be able to do with those troops? Move them towards Australia? Fortify the central pacific? That's a lot of troops to go on transport ships, nice that subs torpedoes don't bonk as much. It's a good question. I keep getting SIGINT messages about him shipping smallish garrison-y units into Madras. But yes, he could easily garrison India and still free up a huge force, maybe 6 or 7 divisions and a lot of tanks? Australia and Central Pacific would be good choices. If I was him I'd be tempted to finish off China. Or maybe a pre-emptive strike on the Soviets?
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Apr 12, 2024 02:40
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May 27, 1943 Central Pacific  USS Cassin inflicts severe (probably lethal, given her location) damage to I-30.  Momentarily terrified that I-168 was gonna hit Essex. But she’s well to the south.  I think we have a spotting report on Tone, and Repulse is in position to intercept. Not much fuel left, so this is it. South Pacific Mississippi fires the first shots of the Makin invasion. Assuming you don’t count the weeks of preparatory bombing and bombarding. The Marines go in today!  USS Selfridge and Lansdowne get in close and help with their 5in/38s. All good so far.  Daybreak, and it looks like an APA hit a mine.  Mili bombing going well. The afternoon Dauntless and Avenger strikes on our enemies at Makin go well. Can we take it in a day?  Why yes I do believe we can.  And that’s it. Both enemy units wiped out. Southwest Pacific  Settsu and Haruna, hello. What are you doing here?  An astonishing display. HMAS Strahan forces RO-68 to the surface with a depth charge hit, and she goes a little crazy with the deck gun. Put down definitively, though.  Umboi has to be closed.  Whoa, hello 40+ Zeroes over Gove! They’re from.. Donryu and Tairyu? Are Settsu and Kongo accompanying his carriers? Is he trying to reclaim Gove, or bombard Groote? Many possibilities.  He shoots down a few B-25s and B-24s and damages quite a few. Zeroes get worn out pretty quickly attacking heavy bombers, though.. Lots of hits and a few kills. India  More punishing Delhi attrition. Two giant waves of Tojos first, then a Helen/Zero combo targeting our ground troops. No losses to the Helens. He is also trying to fix my troops in place at Gwalior and elsewhere.  But we shoot down a few Nells! The Zero sweep comes after, of course.  Hey, his carriers finally moved off Karachi a bit! Let’s not draw any conclusions yet. Summary & Orders  Cool!  This is the setup defending Delhi. I’m dug in all along the river line, so he’ll have to shock attack over. Our boys took the train out of Gwalior just in time. Delhi itself has 383 AV, ~24,000 troops and level 4 forts, soon to be level 5. Another ~700 AV is along the riverline close at hand. The idea is to wait until he makes a crossing then collapse in on the bridgehead. Doing my best to avoid any horrible encirclements at this stage.  Yep, there’s Tairyu and Donryu at least, hovering off Gove. I pull my aircraft out of Groote. A bombardment seems likely. I’m moving Warspite and Lyon north towards Horn Island under a blanket of LRCAP in case he gets wild.  It wasn’t a mine, it was a REEF.
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Apr 12, 2024 02:40
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Degaussing is no help against reefs, that's something you have to respect.
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Apr 12, 2024 02:58
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Those reef have teef! What are you going to do with Makin Island? Is it large enough for airfields/ports that are useful?
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Apr 13, 2024 01:08
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Cimber posted:Those reef have teef! What are you going to do with Makin Island? Is it large enough for airfields/ports that are useful? A tiny port and a mediocre airfield, but large enough to pack it full of Corsairs and terrorize most of the Marshalls. That's the plan, anyways. May 28, 1943 Central Pacific  I believe we've just missed Tone. South Pacific  The Makin invasion task force (minus one APA, victim to a reef) heads back to Tabiteuea and runs over I-173. USS Anderson forces the sub to dive deep. Need to bring up some dedicated squadrons for more ASW in the Gilberts.  The usual bombing of Mili today. The B-25s manage a hit on Kosei!  We’ll build the Makin port level first so we can unload poo poo faster. Then the airfield. Should be able to get it to level 2 quickly and 3 eventually. That’s enough to provide air cover DEEP into the Marshalls - Kwajalein is only 10 hexes away.. Southwest Pacific  Really glad I correctly identified Settsu, Kongo et al as a bombardment TF headed for Groote. Only a handful of damaged airframes remain to be hit, and the cargo ships unloading the day before seem to have gotten away. Nasty casualties and damage to the facilities, though.  Why does the escort never fly. I’m doing something wrong. Poor Dauntlesses.  Along with a few over Gove, we show a big flag over Darwin today with the Portland Roads B-24s. Unfortunately he is pretty well prepared. 26 of the original 31 survive to drop their bombs. Our B-25 force in New Guinea focuses on Gasmata today. No aircraft on the ground, but good hits on the runway. India  If they only sent them in waves of ten we be okay!  Doesn’t work out that way.  The Helens are free to bomb unmolested. They target Delhi’s airfield and runway. Another wave of 49 follows this one. The situation is absolutely critical.  And of course, if I can’t defend Delhi I really can’t defend Ajmer, or Jodhpur or Karachi.  Aaaand he’s over the river. Summary & Orders  We saved most of the SBD crewmen, but.. A bad day.  Behind the scenes, a lot of air transport.  Groote Eyelandt is hard-hit but enough supply remains to repair it all. The 4th Australian Division, dug in behind level 3 forts in a jungle hex, is unfazed.  The follow-up wave is about to land at Makin. A SeaBee battalion, an Army base force, an Engineer Aviation Battalion, and two USMC Field Artillery Battallions (24 155mm howitzers total). Some Kiwi engineers (“Pioneers”, actually) are boarding ship to join them on Makin as well. Loads and loads of supplies coming, about 2,000 are there now. The next steps are building the port and airfield as rapidly as possible to cover for the next hop. I think Marine Raiders will be landing on Ebon very soon. I will also be sending recon missions to Jaluit and Majuro. My initial thought: treat Mili like Tarawa and just go around. I can keep suppressing the airfield, maybe do some longer-ranged battleship bombardments with SoDak and Washington. Alikchi fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Apr 13, 2024 |
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Apr 13, 2024 03:10
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Rough day. But it's only airframes and you're advancing in the Marshalls. He can't hold out everywhere. Soon, soon you have the quintillion or so Essexes coming off the assembly line. And the few billion fighters.
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Apr 13, 2024 03:22
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drat that's a lot of B24's
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Apr 13, 2024 03:24
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Are there any prospects of just outright evacing India for....somewhere? If your grand defensive line lasted for a turn,
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Apr 13, 2024 04:45
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ThatBasqueGuy posted:Are there any prospects of just outright evacing India for....somewhere? If your grand defensive line lasted for a turn, Nowhere left to go! The only port is Karachi, which is blockaded. If he gives me a nice long opening I suppose I could get some out to Socotra.
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Apr 13, 2024 06:00
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I'm rooting for you, but I wish Pharnakes was a little less good at this game; it's been pretty lopsided so far. Here's hoping the momentum can start to switch.
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Apr 13, 2024 06:40
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I think Pharnakes high water mark is coming pretty soon. It's a very high water mark and probably ends up giving him a "win" in the end scoring, but barring being able to pull off an invasion of Australia he just doesn't have much else to take. Meanwhile the US industrial machine is really gearing up and we've already seen Alikchi start pushing back in the Pacific.
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Apr 13, 2024 17:54
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invasion of cali or bust. Alternatively, some sort of althist way to commit to pushing through iran to try and sandwich the soviets would be a cool althist thing to trigger for an insanely triumphant early game japan
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Apr 13, 2024 17:57
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Why are you landing FA on Makin, counter invasion support? Are you landing any AA guns (which I think you are probably going to need real quick). Maldelap seems like a good next target, would isolate a few islands. Any news on your offensive mining ops for Darwin and other big important ports and areas?
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Apr 13, 2024 18:13
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Cimber posted:Why are you landing FA on Makin, counter invasion support? Are you landing any AA guns (which I think you are probably going to need real quick). Maldelap seems like a good next target, would isolate a few islands. Any news on your offensive mining ops for Darwin and other big important ports and areas? Yep, counter-invasion, counter-battery, and forward staging for the next island. I'm still smarting from taking and then losing Tarawa back in 1942, not going to make those mistakes again! e: As for the AA guns, yes, they're coming - moving up two AA Battalions from Canton Island, lots of 90mm DP and 40mm Bofors. No news on offensive mining yet, but there should be some in a week or so. ThatBasqueGuy posted:invasion of cali or bust. Alternatively, some sort of althist way to commit to pushing through iran to try and sandwich the soviets would be a cool althist thing to trigger for an insanely triumphant early game japan This is why we need the WitP 2/WitE 2 crossover hybrid ultragame. With Paradox-style events to trigger poo poo like that. One day. I do think he could have managed Hawaii if he'd headed that way instead of India! Perth is also particularly vulnerable. habeasdorkus posted:I think Pharnakes high water mark is coming pretty soon. It's a very high water mark and probably ends up giving him a "win" in the end scoring, but barring being able to pull off an invasion of Australia he just doesn't have much else to take. Meanwhile the US industrial machine is really gearing up and we've already seen Alikchi start pushing back in the Pacific. Yeah, despite India rapidly falling apart, I have the wind at my back. He won on points ages ago, but I want to see how this ends. Extreme respect to Pharnakes for sticking with it this long. May 29, 1943 Central Pacific Tone passes very close to Midway!   How.. you all miss, why… maybe we’ll get another shot.  C’mon man. South Pacific  Our tentative recon of Ailinglaplap, Jaluit and Maloelap. Jaluit’s garrison (according to accumulated SIGINT reports) includes a Naval Fortress with coast defense guns and a Naval Guard unit. Ailinglaplap is very well-garrisoned, at least an SNLF and an Air HQ. Maloelap has a base force, a naval fortress, and more. All of these will be much tougher targets than Makin. That second wave is being dumped on Makin beach. More supplies and engineers also en route. At Tabiteuea, the Marine Raiders (and some USMC combat engineers) begin boarding APAs and AKAs for a run at Ebon. Southwest Pacific  An AR is a worthy target. Incidentally, Japanese ASW has been brutal this week, especially from the air. Nells are very effective and cover a lot of the DEI. Sailing too close to Java or Borneo is extremely dangerous. India  We can muster a dozen fighters over Delhi today.  He’s over the river here, too, with hundreds of tanks. The other prong is fanning out behind us. Summary & Orders  A very merciful lack of follow-up bombing of Delhi contributes to our single-digit losses today.  This week has been very hard on our submarines.  Tone delenda est! Repulse and co run out of fuel two hexes away from her. But we’ll get more shots with TBFs and PBYs tomorrow. Hopefully. She’s heading towards forecasted rain.. Alikchi fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Apr 13, 2024 |
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Apr 13, 2024 20:33
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Alikchi posted:Yeah, despite India rapidly falling apart, I have the wind at my back. He won on points ages ago, but I want to see how this ends. Extreme respect to Pharnakes for sticking with it this long. Mmm. Maybe, maybe not. He got really lucky a few days really early in the war (Saratoga comes to mind), but I think also the fact that you didn't have the black hole that is China tying up massive amounts of troops is what let him be able to attack India with such force as he did. All those extra divisions that were freed up made their presence known. Have you given any thought to trying to retake Ceylon, or at least be seen making moves there to force him to garrison it and perhaps tie down the KB or mKB?
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Apr 13, 2024 21:09
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Cimber posted:Mmm. Maybe, maybe not. He got really lucky a few days really early in the war (Saratoga comes to mind), but I think also the fact that you didn't have the black hole that is China tying up massive amounts of troops is what let him be able to attack India with such force as he did. All those extra divisions that were freed up made their presence known. I'll at the very least be doing Indian Ocean raids. Ceylon will have to wait until we establish carrier superiority, but I have been thinking about it. Maybe sometime in 44 or 45. And yeah, quiet rump China is the real major change in this scenario. That and the extra CVs and CVLs in 1942.
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Apr 13, 2024 23:05
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May 30, 1943 North Pacific  Slim pickings up here, so we must savor what we get. Central Pacific .png) Folks.. I think Tone got away. South Pacific .png) No more supplies allowed! These guys don’t have much naval bombing training, but the xAKL was stationary and unloading, I bet. Southwest Pacific .png) Still hitting Gasmata. India .png) In the air, mostly more of the same. .png) But this is new and unwelcome. Another wave of twelve adds to the pain. Of course there’s nowhere safe from Nells in India at this point, but I was hoping to have time to repair some airframes before sending them back to the front. Lots of damaged bombers have been pulling back to Lahore to repair. Time to disperse them even further. Peshawar or bust, I guess? .png) With the riverline immediately breached by tanks, infantry start pulling back. They are harried by Helens and Anns. .png) The last few Spitfires continue their doomed defense of Jodhpur.  The 6th Indian Division is pushed back by the 104th, 21st, and 4th Guards. .png) Goofy little improvised base Nander’s days are number. Summary & Orders .png) India is just a gaping wound in these numbers lately. .png) Tomorrow multiple bombardment and surface combat task forces hit Mili. Day after tomorrow, Marines and engineers should start landing at Ebon. I need to bring some minelayers up here, because he will absolutely bombard the poo poo out of Ebon.
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Apr 18, 2024 19:34
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May 31, 1943 The end of May approaches! Central Pacific .png) The enemy is spotted, but torpedo-armed Catalinas are unable to find them in the attack. South Pacific  Two bombardment task forces - one a large cruiser force, the other based around Massachusetts and South Dakota - smash up Mili overnight. We avoid most of the fire of the 12cm, 14cm and 15cm guns of Mili Naval Fortress by staying about 15,000 yards off and using only the big guns. Not as many supply hits as I’d like, but still pretty effective.  The Gilberts area is thick with IJN subs. .png) This Mitchell squadron has demonstrated that it can hit ships on multiple occasions. This is revolutionary. Southwest Pacific .png) It seems Gasmata is fully knocked out. Note the flock of allied TFs in and around Milne, we’ve been busy. India Token resistance in the air continues - a pair of Hurricanes here, some Scythes there. But it is token. .png) .png) The poor 6th Indian is getting blasted in the open today. .png) I figure CAP over his spearheads might be minimal, and this is one of the few chances to use the Vengeances I have left. But minimal CAP is still enough to fend off our one escort and prevent appreciable damage from being done. (The Hurricane pilot manages to take a Zero down and escape, bless him.) Summary & Orders .png) Interesting day. .png) The Marines hit Ebon tomorrow, under USMC air cover. Fingers crossed he thinks we’re going to Mili. .png) Hopefully uncontested landings at Buna and Rossel Island tomorrow, as well.
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Apr 22, 2024 20:36
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June 1, 1943 South Pacific .png) Ailinglaplap! We’re flying all over the Marshalls except for Kwaj at this point. Surely he will respond to my mucking around in this theater soon. Where are the Nells?? .png) B-24s go for Maloelap. He has a decent number of level 3 & 4 airfields in the Marshalls, I need to cut that number down. .png) Landings begin late in the day.. I didn’t quite get the timing on this operation quite right, but no harm done (yet). .png) Ebon is ours, the Marines are fully unloaded - but the transports will stay around another day to dump supplies on the beach. Southwest Pacific More Gasmata bombing. Switching our Mitchells to Umboi tomorrow, and bringing the B-24s back into operation too. Recon is reporting Katherine has a hundred fighters. Katherine is 7 hexes from Groote Eyelandt. That’s just enough for a P-40K with a drop tank. Most of my warships have been pulling south - Warspite and Lyon were briefly positioned to defend against a bombardment of Terapo, then Milne. Now nearly all my naval assets are concentrating at Townsville. Once I have decent airfields at Buna and Kiriwina, I can contemplate giving warships CAP deep into the seas around New Britain. I have kind of a crazy idea… India .png) My P-40K squadrons are American, which means they can access slightly more than a trickle of replacement airframes. They’re on 100% CAP for this one-day pop-up to ensure a numbers advantage. It works! .png) Another enemy infantry div (and tank regiment) over the river, supported by Helens. Summary & Orders .png) Not too bad. .png) June 1, 1943 is when a hell of a lot of ship class upgrades unlock. That’s today! Check this poo poo out: code:
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Apr 23, 2024 20:25
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Radar & AA refits sure are yummy. Replacing a lot of those older AA guns with modern bofors and 5mm cannon is going to be really nice, as is being able to detect raids (and hit) earlier.
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Apr 23, 2024 20:48
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Cimber posted:Radar & AA refits sure are yummy. Replacing a lot of those older AA guns with modern bofors and 5mm cannon is going to be really nice, as is being able to detect raids (and hit) earlier. It's really good! I just have to stagger the upgrades a bit. Sending every single Liberty Ship into the yards at once would be a disaster. June 2, 1943 South Pacific .png) Clear skies mean accurate bombing. Also, we appear to have been permitted to unload everything at Ebon. Hope that holds. .png) I breathe a huge sigh of relief when the Nells finally show up and do not target the transports. I took a big risk leaving them here to unload with extremely long-range and necessarily scanty CAP. .png) This wave hits the Raiders and inflicts very significant casualties for a unit of that size. I might need to drop paratroopers to secure the place. For now, we have several dozen C-47s flying from Tabiteuea dropping supplies for the occupiers of Ebon. Southwest Pacific .png) Convoy spotted on the Truk-Rabaul route. .png) The Mitchells hit Umboi as promised. Great escort and coordination! Another 18 Mitchells and 17 B-24s follow this strike in several waves. At this rate it will be time to start talking about contesting the air over Rabaul itself in a few months. Tomorrow, we turn to Gove and Katherine. India .png) .png) Mortally wounded, but still thrashing around. .png) Nells harry the retreating 8th Indian. .png) Agra is contested by a section of the 31st Armoured and some engineers. They are heavily bombed. .png) Agra falls to a QUITE powerful army. Japanese tanks pursue. .png) Some of those fast units got a little too far ahead of the team - we punish one. Summary & Orders .png) Good to thin out the Nell herd a bit. .png) We managed to unload 4000 supplies on Ebon! Beautiful. The transports will flee overnight. .png) Kiriwina is also looking good. Finally, another wave of upgrades - mostly Liberty Ships today.
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Apr 24, 2024 01:13
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Looks like you're setup pretty well for a thrust through the Marshalls. And what's your plan around Rabaul? Going to isolate it or other?
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Apr 24, 2024 05:15
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curious about the mad gambit being cooked up in the last update
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Apr 24, 2024 05:35
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ThatBasqueGuy posted:curious about the mad gambit being cooked up in the last update wedgekree posted:Looks like you're setup pretty well for a thrust through the Marshalls. I've been thinking of basically three operations. .png) First one (green) is to occupy Merauke, build up the airbase, then use paratroopers to seize the little one hex next to Gove. That's the Wessel Islands, and it can be built up to a level 4 airfield. Mixed feelings about this, strategically - it's kind of a dead end, and extremely vulnerable to his cruisers and BBs. Orange plan is simple - the 9th Australian Division has been occupying Terapo with its full strength for many months now. Split it into brigades, take two of the three to Milne Bay, then hug the coastline under heavy air cover all the way to Umboi Island. Then we can think about Madang and the rest of the way up the top of New Guinea, or even Manus->Truk if we're feeling extra ballsy. Yellow plan, we go sideways, cut off Guadalcanal from Rabaul by seizing Shortlands and Munda. Shortlands, like Umboi Island, is six hexes from Rabaul, a very significant number for our fighters. Even a P-39 can make six hexes with a drop tank. Update coming shortly...
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Apr 25, 2024 22:17
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I vote #2 myself. You don't need to worry about supply as much for your bases at Wewak and Aitape since they can travel overland up from PM via the trail system. It might not be huge, but its off camera supply that are not subject to interdiction or sinking. From there you can go both west to cut off the Solomons and east to start hitting his resources production centers in the DEI. How big of airbases can you get at Wewak? Can you even just march engineer units up there since you control NG? If you can do you even need to strike his base? #1 I agree is a dead end. #3 seems like an obvious choice and might be a good distraction effort while you firm up plan #1. Make lots of moves for #3 and have him looking down there while you move the full stuff up north?
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Apr 25, 2024 22:46
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Cimber posted:I vote #2 myself. You don't need to worry about supply as much for your bases at Wewak and Aitape since they can travel overland up from PM via the trail system. It might not be huge, but its off camera supply that are not subject to interdiction or sinking. From there you can go both west to cut off the Solomons and east to start hitting his resources production centers in the DEI. How big of airbases can you get at Wewak? Can you even just march engineer units up there since you control NG? If you can do you even need to strike his base? Yeah, I think when I take Woodlark Island it'll be clear that I could do #3 and take Shortlands. There's really no other reason, since I already have Rossel to the south and Kiriwina to the northwest. It has been sort of on my mind for a while. I think I'll probably do some combination of #2 and #3. That doesn't mean I won't build up Merauke - I'm sure it'll come in handy. June 3, 1943 South Pacific  With Mili airfield knocked out, I’m spreading the bombers out a bit. Those Nells came from Kwajalein or Roi-Namur yesterday, I’m pretty sure, but I’ll work my way to them.  Our B-25 squadron goes for Jaluit. Southwest Pacific  Hellcats based at Milne do a big sweep over Shortlands and find nothing. Good!  These poor guys should have stuck with the American squadrons..  Who, in fairness, don’t do that much better.  Back to Shortlands. Coastal minesweeper obliterated.  The Aussies find an ACM!   American B-25s will be sticking with Umboi Island today.  Except for these guys. Reclaiming Milne really unlocked all the doors in this theater..  Another squadron sweeps into the skies over Katherine and fights 4:1 odds. I need to rethink my strategy for northern Australia. He’s still got lots of planes and troops here.  At least none of them are over Gove. India The Jodhpur Spitfires of No. 155 Squadron do exceptionally well. .png)  .png) A sampler of the day’s pummeling.  These poor night fighters.. I’ve been hoping to catch some Nells unescorted over the 5th Indian Division (which has successfully made it over the river).  Today’s teeny tiny nibble of a counterstrike.  He’s sweeping all over, but Tojos over Ambala is new. I also see his troops heading in that direction.. He wants to encircle Delhi from both sides at once, presumably.  On the ground, under the hail of bombs, the rout continues. Summary & Orders  Yeah, the Groote->Katherine sweeps were a bad idea.  The SeaBees have hit the ground running.  F-5A Lightning recon shows a bunch of fighters flown in to Ailinglaplap overnight. I win today’s round of bomber whack-a-mole!
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Apr 25, 2024 22:57
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Wonder where the response to all these advances in the southeast pacific will drop. Can't imagine that (somehow successful) raid on the pacific coast is all he's cooking
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Apr 26, 2024 02:03
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The response is dropping now! June 4, 1943 South Pacific  Ro-67 attacks a subchaser and predictably finds itself chased by the subchasers.  Hello Japanese carriers out of nowhere! This is kind of what I expected when we took Makin: the hand of God slamming down instantly. 3 carriers, I think Taiho, Shokaku, probably Zuikaku too? This is going to test our ability to defend Ebon Island.  Ah. Yep, Zuikaku too. At least our transports appear to have unloaded everything, given the lack of ground casualties in the combat report. Southwest Pacific  Ro-63 takes a shot at USS Kane and misses. Big mistake, Kane retaliates with multiple direct depth charge hits. You almost never see that “Sounds of submarine breaking up detected!” message. Ro-63, like Ro-67, is/was a Type L4 submarine, early 1920s vintage.  We haven’t seen any combat here in a minute, have we? Sailfish gets away with making the same mistake as Ro-63.  Flying Fish, on Truk spotting/harassment duty, goes for a Japanese destroyer - another miss.  I flew out all the serviceable P-40Ks from Groote overnight, but after that battle over Katherine there were a lot of airframes that needed service and are now probably not gonna make it out. We’ll see, I can LRCAP from Mornington tomorrow.  The SBDs target Shortlands’ airfield today.  B-25s are more effective here. The Aussie Mitchells pepper the port as well.  Plus, the B-24s keep it up at Gove. It may be actually, properly knocked out soon… India  The Canadian Ventura bomber has its own replacement pool, which means this RCAF squadron is one of the last that can muster more than a handful of aircraft. Slowing down the column marching on Jodhpur is important.  This is an okay palate cleanser. .png) His tanks continue to overrun us, though. Summary & Orders  Lots of Jakes shot down over Ebon in the scouting phase.  Another AKA and APA down - that hurts a bit, but it could have been significantly worse.  Tomorrow, we cancel this wave of unloading at Ebon island and flee towards air cover. Meanwhile: Essex, Scourge, Hamilton, and the CVE Prince William are edging slowly towards the enemy. By the end of next turn we will be two hexes east of Maiana. I won’t speak any hopes and jinx myself, but there’s a lot of land-based aircraft in the Gilberts that would love to have a crack at Taiho, Zuikaku and Shokaku, and our carriers might lure them into a tough situation. I’d still rather avoid a carrier fight except under completely favorable circumstances, but this is a situation where I have to commit. Hopefully nothing happens tomorrow!  Running out of ways to say India is looking grim. Alikchi fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Apr 26, 2024 |
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Apr 26, 2024 02:48
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Sheesh, next few days looking decisive for the near-term course of the war!
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Apr 26, 2024 03:02
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Reminder to check all your carrier squadrons to make sure they are set correctly. This is from personal experience. Also I think we figured out not to use search angles?
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Apr 26, 2024 03:49
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MeatloafCat posted:Reminder to check all your carrier squadrons to make sure they are set correctly. Second MeatloafCat posted:
Sadly also second MeatloafCat posted:
Yup, because this game wants to test your ability to adapt to changes from the expected way of war. The staff plans, the tactical plans, the local recon and the fact that this game is a buggy mess that sometimes tries to rival Space Station 13.
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Apr 26, 2024 08:03
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SerthVarnee posted:
gently caress yes. There's some fuckery with ASW as well, regarding what types of ships will react to a spotted sub or not, but I've not tracked it down exactly yet. It's not class, it's not speed, it's not manouverability, it's not tonnage, it's not durability, it's not leader skill or ship xp or detection levels, but some loving parameter determines if ships in an ASW TF will react or not. Most DDs will react. I haven't found any other ship class that will, not even DEs or PFs. But if I copy a DD in the editor and call it a PF it will react. But japanese Momi DDs won't react. I thought it might be a hidden database field not visible in the editor, but when I took a DD-class that reacts and recreated it from scratch instead of copying it, it did still react. Changing it to the same devices and properties as a PF (but keeping the class as a DD) made it not react any more. Annoying. Make hunter-killer ASW TFs only from good DDs, and make the other classes do escort I guess.
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Apr 26, 2024 10:12
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SerthVarnee posted:
In fairness that very much simulates things in the war. It's not /supposed/ to but it shows well confusion, messedup orders, and wierd organizational things that mess up plans. It's due to the UI/AI and a ton of other things, but it gives a (broad) idea of hwo chaotic command vs methods is
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Apr 26, 2024 20:29
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SerthVarnee posted:
Space Station 13 is a great comparison. EVE Online, too. Games that are/were buggy and obscure but haven't been surpassed in their weird niche for various reasons. And where deciphering obtuse mechanics is basically a part of the game. Caconym posted:gently caress yes. There's some fuckery with ASW as well, regarding what types of ships will react to a spotted sub or not, but I've not tracked it down exactly yet. It's not class, it's not speed, it's not manouverability, it's not tonnage, it's not durability, it's not leader skill or ship xp or detection levels, but some loving parameter determines if ships in an ASW TF will react or not. Thankfully I have a pretty steady supply of new long-range minesweepers, subchasers etc coming out the US, but I still have under-escorted convoys out there. I'm pulling my DMSes back to the front because I need to start doing a lot more pre-invasion minesweeping. And DDs being the only proactive solution is very frustrating. 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..
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Apr 27, 2024 04:28
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Hope it was a good turn for you and not a giant cluster.
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Apr 27, 2024 04:30
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Wow, can't wait to see how things go!
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Apr 27, 2024 05:59
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