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

Started by KyzBP, June 22, 2015, 04:02:39 PM

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KyzBP

January 20th, 1942

The refugee ships, loaded with women, children, and small cuddly animals, continue to flee Java...

...without much success.  I guess I'm ahead of the game if any ship from Java makes it to safe harbor.

He hunts me down by air as well.

I doubt these guys make it safely anywhere.  They've been herded into a kill pen.  I may just kamikaze bombard them into
some random Geek owned base.  There's just nowhere for them to go.

The previously mentioned annoying task force that keeps raiding my coastline.  Maybe it's not technically mine but possession
is 9/10ths of the law.

They get away again.  All planes in the area are now set to Naval Attack.  I just need him to overextend and I may catch him out
of port.

The daily bombing of Nanchung.

Allied bombing has moved into the number 3 spot, behind syphilis and animal bites, as the as the biggest killer of Geekanese troops
stationed in China.  I'm probably not accomplishing anything by bombing these guys but it makes me feel like I doing something in China.

The Dutch would just like to remind you that even though they have no homeland in Far East they're still in the fight.

Their subs have been nothing short of great so far this game.  I have no complaints of their actions and wish I had more of their subs.

My favorite result of the day:
Two PBY's encounter CAP of 6 Zeroes.  The wily Cat pilots manage to evade the Cap,

and score a couple of hits on the tanker the Cap was protecting.  How can you expect to win a war with pilots that can't stop
a couple of flying boats from bombing your ships?  ;)

The softening of Lautem begins:

I do like when the pre-invasion bombardment kills more of Geek's men than mine.

Geek troops hit the beaches of Lautem.

I think we all know how this will end.

A pairt of B-17's try to stem the flow of Geek troops into Lautem.

Way too little, way too late.  I would think a couple of bomb hits from a B-17 would sink a ship pretty fast though.

The Enterprise and Friends begin dislodging the bad guys from Palmyra.


I was hoping that the number of bombers involved would give the impression of more CV's.  Sadly, it looks like exactly what it is.
Either way I don't expect Geek to try reinforcing Palmyra unless it's a crucial cog in some plan of his.  So in the mean time I'll
just keep bombing his troops until he sends carriers this way.  Then I'll run.

Speaking of his CV's, this CV task force appears to be headed towards Pago Pago.  I have my bombardment group headed to Savaii.

I've decided to change course and try to engage the CV's in a night time surface engagement.  I think it's my best chance at
damaging his carriers.  All I need is a little luck. 


JasonPratt

The guys struggling to decrypt Japanese intercepts, affirm that Tojo is quite irked by American PBYs.  O0

Not actionable intel, but maybe will help morale a bit.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

KyzBP

 O0
Quote from: JasonPratt on November 07, 2015, 08:02:30 PM
The guys struggling to decrypt Japanese intercepts, affirm that Tojo is quite irked by American PBYs.  O0

Not actionable intel, but maybe will help morale a bit.

KyzBP

January 21st, 1942

Geekanese troops vacationing on the resort island of Palmyra are awoken by the reality that "Oh yeah, we're at war and we were left here to wither."


Again, my goal is to bomb and bombard these guys out of existence.  I have no way of getting any reinforcements there short of using PBY's.
That would take forever.
And since the normal bombardment group is headed back to Pearl to repair and refuel, I detached the escort ships from the CV group and are giving
them the chance to throw some lead at Geek's troops on Palmyra.

I can't forget to reattach them.

Remember the bombardment group that was headed to Savaii?  The one with which I decided to take on Geek's carrier TF?  Here's what happens when you miss
the carriers:



And when those carrier planes get bored of chasing CA's around, they do this:

I really didn't need to lose another AP, especially one carrying troops and vehicles.

Here's his coastal raiders.

They are out in the open at Moulmein.  Every plane in the area is set to Naval Attack.  It's mostly fighters, but given
what the P-35's did in the Philippines, I'm not going to discount using them against ships.

Another day, another air raid on Nanchang.

It's just a matter of time before he puts a CAP there and eats up all these planes.  I did spend some time in China this turn.  Hopefully we'll get
good news out of there soon.

Here's the matchup at Clark Field:

He'll eventually take it I'm sure but he's going to have to regroup before going after Manila.  If some of the units at Clark can get away and
retreat back to Manila it'll be that much tougher for him.  Both Manila and Clark are well supplied.  There's a chance that the Philippines will be
far more costly than Geek probably anticipated.

The Houston and friends are being chased all over the sea near Java.

These guys are as good as sunk.  If I had it to do again, I'd pull most of the ships out of this area far sooner.

I had completely forgotten that I still had bases and troops in Malaya.

The troops at Alor Star certainly sent me a big reminder.  There's nothing I can do for them other than admire their tenacity.

Lautem was lost this turn leaving only Dili as a safe haven on Timor, the last stop before Darwin.
I didn't show it, maybe Geek did, but I lost a metric buttload of ships this turn.  Most were part of the refugee armada from Java.  That was expected.

I'll end this report with the screen you've been waiting for:

The Monkey Armada heading for Dutch Harbor to await all the AM units.  There are still a couple transports on the West Coast loading and a TF a few days north of Hawaii.  When they all reach Dutch I'll reorganize them and then launch the invasion.  Aircraft have also been staged around Alaska, awaiting the opening of the first allied airfield on Geekanese soil.  Keep your fingers.

JasonPratt

ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

KyzBP

Quote from: JasonPratt on November 08, 2015, 12:53:44 PM
Quote from: KyzBP on November 08, 2015, 11:54:18 AM
Keep your fingers.

:o That... sounds ominous, when put like that...

I'm just not super confident.  I don't think I have enough troops to take one island let alone two.  It'll really depend on how well I can soften those islands up before landing.  If I delay the landings by a week I could have enough Political Points to bring another infantry unit and/or some combat engineers.  Plus I'll have 2 more BB's online in the next couple of days.  Decisions, decisions.

KyzBP

With this update we'll be up to date.  However, this is kind of a long one and I'm short on time so I want to at least get part of it out.

January 22nd, 1942

Let's start with the sub activity shall we?

The now infamous Dutch subs go to work again on any ship crazy enough to sail the high seas alone.

For once we hit a loaded AK.  17 Geek soldiers were killed and the ship is on fire and heavily damaged.  Let's see if we can find more.

Well look here.  We find another unsuspecting AK.

I'm guessing the Dutch didn't take too well to losing Java.  Their subs seem extra focused.

The meat grinder at Savaii has begun.

I'm still convinced he's over extended here...and here:

The detached carrier escorts manage to pound Palmyra again.  I'll reattach them this round and pull the CV's back east a bit.  I'll wait and see if he tries to reinforce
Palmyra.  If he does, I hope to be ready for him.

These crazy, over ambitious ships chased me right into port.

And then slapped me around in front of all my friends.  It was a little humiliating and there's nothing I can do about it unless the planes at Darwin
decide to launch.

That's it for right now.  I'll finish this tomorrow, plus I'm saving all the juicy stuff for last. O0

Sir Slash

Looks like you're starting to get some good licks in. Lets see if the Geekenese Jauggernaut backs-off a bit now.
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

JasonPratt

ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

KyzBP

Continuing the 22nd

The SBD's head back into the breach at Palmyra.
First the carrier based SBD's hit...

Then the Palmyra based SBD's add to the count.

I wish I had some type of offensive unit to land there and boot him off the island but everything is tied up with the Monkey.
The bombings will continue until they swim away.
The carriers are going to rendezvous with the escorts and standby east of Palmyra.

In a surprise move, the AVG took advantage of the Geek raiders up near Moulmein

Then some Buffaloes joined in the fun.

Then the AVG and the Buffaloes got together and said "We should try this together." And so they did.

Now, I doubt any of these attacks did anything more than scratch the paint but he should get his ships out of there or bring in some CAP.
If he brings CAP, the AVG should rack up some kills.  If he stays without CAP, then the bombers I've moved over should get some work.

I promised I'd spend more time with China, well we have or first land victory of the war.

I don't remember what our losses were but I'm just happy we won one.  If he cares about China, and I think he does, he'll have to move some
troops around.  It'll be nice to have him react for once.

Now to some ominous events.
First this:

Another of his AMC raiders north of Hawaii.  Not a big deal by itself.  I have a bunch of ASW TF's in the area and plenty of bombers at Pearl to handle this.
What bothers me is: Last time he sent some of these raiders near Alaska after sending them to Hawaii.  If Geek is a man of habit he may send some raiders
right into Arctic Monkey.
That may be a long shot but then there was this:

A sub just happens to show up in this area, days before AM is supposed to arrive.  I'm putting everything in the area on ASW.  I can't have AM discovered before it leaves port.
Now here's the real reason I'm getting nervous:

What the hell are these guys doing at the epicenter of AM just a week before AM is due to launch?????
I have a lot of subs in the area so maybe these guys are hunting subs. To me they look like a TF set up to lay and maintain minefields.  Someone correct
me if I'm wrong.  Another crazy coincidence. 
Do I have an OpSec problem? Did some random sub near Seattle spot the invasion force leaving the Sound?  Did Geek put 2 and 2 together?
I'm feeling more and more like this operation may be compromised and I'm walking into a trap.  At this point it won't take many more coincidences for me
to cancel the Monkey.  I think it's better to be safe than sorry though.

Here's a parting screen of AM inching their way towards Dutch Harbor:

KyzBP

That turn went better than most.  His CVs in the South Pacific did manage to hit my CA's and DD's again.  This turn though, they should be under the CAP of Canton.  Those P-39's are itching to knock down some more bombers.

I really am on the fence as far as AM goes.  I have some minesweepers that will go in before the bombardment but he looks like he's serious about fortifying that area.  The timing of it stinks.

I have a secret base that I'm quietly building up.  Once it's finished I'll let you guys in on it and the reasons for having it.

*Side Note: I haven't built a model plane since I was a teenager (30+ years ago) but I found myself shopping online for model planes today.  I want a 3D version of all these aircraft involved in this game so far.  Has this or any other game inspired you to do something similar?  I would be surprised if I was the only one.

Silent Disapproval Robot

Quote from: KyzBP on November 10, 2015, 07:05:39 PM
*Side Note: I haven't built a model plane since I was a teenager (30+ years ago) but I found myself shopping online for model planes today.  I want a 3D version of all these aircraft involved in this game so far.  Has this or any other game inspired you to do something similar?  I would be surprised if I was the only one.

Yup.  It was my failed search for a good PC game covering bomber command that got me back into board gaming and now has me looking at dumping too much money into a WWII era air combat miniatures game.

JasonPratt

If it helps you feel any better, whenever you finish and go look at UGeek's thread, you'll see no loose lips sinking ships even by accident.  O0 Observers have been very quiet on the topic, to avoid suggesting anything. I think anyone else going between threads will corroborate that, so you can feel secure.  O:-)

Now tell us about the secret basewait that might be too eager.  >:D
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Sir Slash

Yes, I agree. I go between both threads and there's been no loose Monkey talk. Question. Can your own subs get killed by your own mines? If Geek is laying mines in an area, does this mean he probably wouldn't have subs there because of the minefields? And how great a threat to your forces are his possible minefields?
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

KyzBP

I didn't mean to imply that anyone was sharing secrets.  There's enough people reading both of these threads to keep them both well policed.  I was/am more frustrated at the string of coincidences, all telling me to hold off on AM.  I'll continue on schedule for now but, again, I'm really on the fence.

Slash- I don't think I've ever seen one of my subs hit one of my own mines.  I don't think that's part of the mechanics but I'm not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to WiTP.  I've already had a sub hit a mine in that area so I'm giving the islands themselves a little room.