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

[KyzBP]

February 17th, 1942

So, I had a sub try to take down part of this herd:

It missed and was chased away.  I then counted at least 23 AK's and AP's.  That's a lot of troop moving capability.  I'm
kidding myself if I think my original strategy of knocking out his shipping is going to work.

Since Geek's large CV force is out of range, we revisit our daily bombardments of Baker Is.

Not many casualties but we did do some damage to the island's facilities.  I have a CL and a couple more DD's coming
up from Suva to join in on the harassment.  The idea is to force Geek to react to multiple annoyances.  When he realizes
he can't be everywhere at once maybe he will split up the large CV force into something my CV's can handle.  A return to
Palmyra is next.

Some of Geeks aircraft located my Brit CV TF.

They weren't able to score any hits but I don't think I'm sticking around to see if they can.  I'll take them back to Colombo
and prepare for some type of offensive action on Sumatra.  I'll need to tie up his aircraft and navy here while I slip past a bunch
of Aussie reinforcements.  I'm getting a good amount of Australian troops at Aden which is off map and at the top.  I have
to convoy them all the way down the west side of the map and then over to Australia.  I'll either unload them at Perth or take them
all the way to Melbourne.  Perth might be the way to go.  I can send them, by rail, to where ever I need them AND I can turn the AP's
around faster to go get more troops.

Geek caught on to my Gasmata-Buna ferry service.

That Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC) is stuck there for now.  It has the rest of the Lark Bn aboard.  It's doubtful that they'll make it
to Buna.  The fact that he used DD's rather than aircraft tells me Rabaul may not have much of an offensive air force present.  I'm not sure
how I can exploit that yet but I'll keep that tucked away.

Geek's large CV force is near Johnston Is.

I don't have much in the way of air cover for Johnston.  The troops are bracing for a large scale air attack and the few fighter pilots have
written their "If you're reading this..." letters.  AM has just started so let's see if it grabs Geek's attention enough to forego Johnston and
start heading North.

On to AM.

Raid One.

Geek sent whatever was in range of AM.  Neither side took significant losses, although I thought I'd chew him up, this round.

Raid Two.

The results were about the same.  There were 2 more raids where I did much better but, of course, I didn't grab the screens
of those.  I am a little concerned at the low effectiveness of my fighters.  None of his planes got through to the main landing
force or the support ships but I expected more kills.

Unfortunately, one raid did manage to get through to the ships at Ketoi.

This was the only ship hit, so far.  I suffer fewer losses when being bombed than when unloading.   This AP eventually
sinks.  I hate losing AP's right now.

Here's a look at today's Air Losses:

When you look at it using this we have about a 3 to 2 kill ratio versus the Zero.  That's not too bad.  His pilots, I believe, are
harder to replace and all his best pilots are aboard his CV's.  When you throw in the bombers we start to look like we're doing pretty
good.  The one thing that really concerns me is Geek has a turd load of long range land based bombers that he's been using to bomb Manila. 
He may transfer those over to here.  If he does, by overwhelming numbers, he'll get some through to my ships. Now, will Geek bring his
carriers North to scratch this pesky little mosquito bite or will he leave the mosquito alone to drink it's fill and signal others to come join the feast?

I'll close today with a WiTP rarity, I think.

Please notice Ketoi.  Not bad considering, by plan, troops weren't even supposed to be landing there until tomorrow.

[KyzBP]

February 18th, 1942

The lovable AMC Westralia tried to make a break for Buna.

So close.  A bit of overkill I'd say.  I have another AMC and an AK loading supplies for Buna right now.  I figure these guys
will return to port before my supply ships arrive in the area.  If he really doesn't have much in the way of bombers at Rabaul
then I'll try to sneak supplies to Buna.  I think his planes at Port Moresby are preoccupied with Australia.

Air battles rage over Padang.

Maybe "rage" is a strong word here but the Hurricanes are faring pretty well.  Geek does manage to get a wave through though.

Here they were less than spectacular.  I hate when I lose transports.  I especially hate when they're loaded with Tanks.  Some of
the disabled ones will not doubt be repaired and pressed into service.

Remember when I decided to pull my Brit carriers North to Colombo?  Well, we nearly ran smack into these guys:

I'd rather not have a surface engagement here.  Our forces are about even but I have more to lose.  If I can avoid him this
turn then may may be able to inflict some damage using the carrier based bombers. 

Charters Towers fell pretty quick.

Geek now has access to a level 4 airfield on Australian soil.  That's really bad news.  I still can't muster anything that
can slow him down.  I'm just going to have to try and paper cut him to death for awhile.

Northwest of Johnston Island:

I guess that mosquito bite itches a little.  Geek has changed course and is now heading towards AM...I think.  This is
the area of the map where I have no PBY coverage.  He'll be out of range of the Cat's based at Johnston and won't be picked
up again until either Midway or my new PBY base at Ketoi.  Either way it looks like AM is working.  Full scale bombardments of
Baker and Palmyra are now underway and troops for Australia are loading up on the West Coast of the U.S.  AM just has to
distract Geek long enough for me to get them past Canton Island.

AM:

Geek hardly sent any raids today.

There was this one and maybe one other.  Nothing got through.  None of them really need to though because I'm losing
more men to landing than to enemy contact.  I lost close to 500 men this turn alone, all of them at Shimushiri.  There are
no enemy troops present so as soon as I take the island the losses should stop.

Going back to Geek's large CV force; I figure if he runs his CV's at Full Speed he can be within range in about 5 days.  I've given
myself 4 more days or when the PBY's at Ketoi spot him to unload everything.  Then everyone bugs out back to Dutch. 
If Geek runs his CV's at Full Speed that long he'll have to send them to port for repairs.  If he uses Mission Speed to get
them there then I probably have closer to a week to unload.  Either way there will be no scary Geek carriers in the Central/South Pacific
for awhile.  If he doesn't take the bait then we'll make Ketoi and Shimushiri a more permanent home.

[jomni]

Local Ketoi residents will surely be happy if you stick around


Hey sexy!

[KyzBP]

And the boys were worried they wouldn't be able to go "clubbing" while they are there.
.
.
.
.
No animals were hurt in that last statement.

[KyzBP]

February 19th, 1942

We start with a Dutch sub scoring a hit on a Tanker in port.

Given how many ships Geek has, this won't be even be noticed.  It is nice to damage something though.  I've ordered most
of the subs to start attack ships in port.  I was having a hard time interdicting anything in transit.  At least I know they're here.

A small contingent of the AVG is jumped by some Oscars.

The AVG didn't much appreciate that.  I know I'm jinxing myself but we seem to be controlling the air in the few places we are
in contact...except Australia.

There were multiple raids over Padang.

There were at least 100 bombers in one raid and probably another 100 in the other raids combined.  I got my butt handed to me
in sunken ships.  I lost troops that were unloading as well.  I'll try to get the troops off the ships and then get everyone out of there.
I won't miss the ships much but I don't want to lose anymore troops.

A raid managed to get through at AM.

There were hardly, if any, raids other than this one.  For some reason the CAP didn't launch.  I'm very fortunate that no larger raids
were launched or got through.  The AP was only lightly damaged and unloading continues.  I've decided to send the empty ships back
piecemeal.  As soon as a ship empties it will head back towards Dutch Harbor.  The carriers will be the last to leave. 

Geeks CV's are leaving.

It looks like they are leaving.  I'm not sure why he's going West though.  He may be trying to skirt some perceived threat that doesn't exist.
I'll probably lose track of these guys next turn.  If I do, then the countdown clock will start and in 5 days I'll have to pull everyone out of AM
without regard to their load status.  My fighters are doing pretty well so far, no point in losing them just yet.

[jomni]

And the boys were worried they wouldn't be able to go "clubbing" while they are there.
.
.
.
.
No animals were hurt in that last statement.

OMG! Are they Canadians? (No offence)

[Con]

Thats why so many non mechanic Canadians admit to having blown a seal

Con

[JasonPratt]

There are some things in this thread I can never, ever unsee. 

[jomni]

"Seal clubbing" is a sad activity. You can Google about it. I won't be posting links.

[KyzBP]

"Seal clubbing" is a sad activity. You can Google about it. I won't be posting links.

I totally agree.  I do not condone such actions.

[KyzBP]

February 20th, 1942

A David vs Goliath battle was the opening act today

4 Geek Destroyers vs 4 CL's, a CA, and the Battleship Royal Sovereign.  The Brits should make quick work of 4 DD's, right?

Here's something I learned after this battle: Avoid fighting Japanese DD's at night!  I did some research after this battle and
discovered that the Japanese Destroyer Doctrine was to be very aggressive and they fitted their DD's to reflect the doctrine.  They
preferred fighting at night as it allowed them to utilize their Long Lance torpedoes while remaining somewhat undetected or
difficult to get a fix on.  In our engagement the torpedoes didn't play as much of a factor as the shells did but it took my ships forever
to start hitting Geek's ships.  The Sovereign was already damaged before she even fired a shot.  Bravo to the developers for paying
such attention to detail.

The Sovereign and the Ceres are both limping home.  No fires on either but there is 60% float damage on the Sovereign.  I'm sending the
carriers back to escort these goes in to port.  Geek had a surprise for me (see below) and I don't want that surprise catching up to these
guys.

We said hello to Baker Island again, in our own special way.

His troops are well dug in already but we are making the island unusable as a base for subs, ships, or planes.  Again, I plan on bombarding
all his little island bases around here until his carriers return.  If he sends anything but the big CV force then I'll have some surprises of
my own waiting for him.  More on that in the coming days.

The boys around Rangoon got a little revenge on the DD's that raided Rangoon.

Weather kept most of the planes grounded but these guys managed to get airborne, shoot down a few Oscars, and then drop a bomb
on a DD.  This "raid" has me wondering if it wasn't more of a "probe".  Maybe Geek is considering assaulting Rangoon by sea/river rather
than on land, bypassing Pegu.  The only problem, for him, would be that you can't get large convoys/TF's up the river to Rangoon.  Everything
has to be small or broken down into small elements.  I may have to consider this a possibility though.

Now for Geek's surprise for me:
Taadaa!

Those little red boats just happen to be CVE's and CVL's.  Did I know they were in the area? Yep.  My subs spotted them at Singapore.  Did I
know they left Singapore? Nope.  I thought they were still there.  Geek's land based bombers haven't bombed Siboret so I thought Siboret was
out of range.  I was watching for signs that his CV's were on the move but never got any warning so I never retreated my transports.  My plans
of slowly recapturing Sumatra are now on hold.  If he keeps his CV's in the area then I have to stop the Australian reinforcements bound for Perth.
Damn it!

We'll end the day on a good note.
In the skies above AM, the Navy pilots continue to dominate.

One positive side effect to AM that I didn't consider is the experience my carrier pilots are getting.  Many of my pilots started in the 50 experience
range, which is at the low end of competent, I think.  My pilots that were originally based on the carriers have experience around 70 but because
of the air battles over AM the guys in their 50's are already improving.  It helps too that we're facing Geek's reserve pilots.  When his carrier pilots
show up it will be a different story, well, except I won't be here anymore. ;)

Heres' the days Aircraft Losses:

We are winning the air war right now.  I'd say it's because we chose where the battle would take place.  That philosophy will be one I'll try to
adhere to during the early part of the war.

As I was typing about AM I started to think a little about how I would approach AM from Geek's side.  My conclusion is I may need to leave
a day earlier than planned and here's why:

Geek could do 2 things at once and not expose his carriers at all.
1. Fly his planes off his carriers to the bases at Bihoro (level 4 airfield) and Kushiro (level 2 airfield) as soon as his planes are in range of these bases.
2. Dock his CV's in Tokyo to rearm, refit, repair while his planes go to work on anything left over at AM.

Both airfield are easily within range of AM.  Given the amount of aircraft we've shot down, I don't think he has to worry about there being enough aircraft
support at the bases.  Plenty of empty hangers.  All the while he could be getting his CV's ready to head back out to sea.  This would greatly decrease the
turn around time I had anticipated for his CV's and their return to the South Pacific. :-\  Geek may get greedy though and try chasing my carriers back to Alaska.
I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[KyzBP]

February 21st, 1942

As usual, we start with some sub attacks.  Our campaign to attack his ships in port seems to be doing better than the one at sea.

We hit another one but I figure you guys are tiring of sub vs transport screenshots.

Our Brit carrier planes made a run at Sabang.

Nothing earth shattering but we took down a couple ships.  All this carrier activity will certainly draw Geek's attention.  Hit and Run
is the best possible tactic for these guys.

The slaughter continues at Padang.

We lost a couple more transports and more troops.  I really should have been more patient and more discreet here.  What I thought
would be a good staging area for the reconquest of Sumatra has turned into a graveyard for my troops and ships.  If Geek doesn't
follow up with ground units then maybe I'll trickle units into this area and stay on plan but if he takes it then we'll have to revisit this
later.

The 2 CL's that were hit at Padang and fleeing were caught again.

Both were hit and received damage.  They're trying to get out of the area but they can't out run Geek's aircraft.  I may try to split
them up and send them on different courses to try to save at least one of them.

Well, Photobucket is being a dick again so this will have to be a 2 part update.

[Tuna]

Thanks so much for this AAR KyzBP!.. I know the game itself is a lot of work, never mind doing an AAR as well! But you're making it a little more tempting to try a full campaign game some day. Checking for updates every day!  O0

[KyzBP]

Thanks so much for this AAR KyzBP!.. I know the game itself is a lot of work, never mind doing an AAR as well! But you're making it a little more tempting to try a full campaign game some day. Checking for updates every day!  O0

Thanks a lot Tuna!  The full campaign really isn't that bad once you get into a rhythm.  Early on it gets easier for the Allies because the Japanese kill most of your units and take most of your bases, decreasing the amount of time you need to put into a turn.  Losing has it's advantages.

[Barthheart]

Thanks so much for this AAR KyzBP!.. I know the game itself is a lot of work, never mind doing an AAR as well! But you're making it a little more tempting to try a full campaign game some day. Checking for updates every day!  O0

Thanks a lot Tuna!  The full campaign really isn't that bad once you get into a rhythm.  Early on it gets easier for the Allies because the Japanese kill most of your units and take most of your bases, decreasing the amount of time you need to put into a turn.  Losing has it's advantages.

LOL! I wonder in Jason feels the same in our DC3 campaign... I seem to be killing lots of his units.... although... more seem to come outta the woodwork fairly regularly...