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Radio Free Kobold posted:Just to the south, not southeast or southwest, no indication of size or class. Could be anything from a convoy forming up to a small task force, and god knows where they're heading. Maybe reinforcements by troop ship to Buna, with a destroyer and three Marus? Maybe the same, but to one of the islands near Lunga to reinforce a "probable next target"? If it was a proper response to the Lunga push it would be much bigger, so it's probably either a domestic group or something coming my way. Yeah, it's hard to tell what they are. If you open the turn, the game is saying 8 ships in the TF, moving SW, and containing at least two DDs. This is sketchy, but could be reinforcements for Buna? That said, worst case scenario would be a CA squadron heading for Guadalcanal, especially since one of our task forces has turned back to cover the minelayers. There's no real way to change orders for your Catalinas to help identify the contact, unfortunately; we don't have that level of granularity. Radio Free Kobold posted:
 Do not do this. It's safe to assume that any Japanese aircraft will have been grounded by the same storms that grounded our bombers, so we cannot conclude that there is no air opposition over PNG. We need those fighters up and ready for the next turn, when weather forecasts predict clear skies. Fatigue levels amongst your squadrons are generally low, and are not worth grounding our fighter squadrons over. That said, air reconnaissance suggests Buna was empty last turn. No way of knowing if that'll continue, though, and I want to keep our air strength together and focused.What I'd like you to do is to switch No. 9 Sqdn RNZAF and No. 6 Sqdn RAAF over to ASW patrol, rather than Naval Search. Your Catalinas will do a good job spotting any Japanese shipping in the Solomon Sea, but IJN submarines will evade them, and we'll need to find them further back. We have confirmed sightings of an IJN sub near Townsville, and others may be lurking off the Australian coast. Without a squadron on ASW duties at Brisbane, we will have no way of knowing if there's anything nearby.
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Dec 10, 2018 00:40
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ANZAC Army/Air Command "Did anyone tell the Sikh this isn't Burma?" "I don't think he cares." I have been informed that The Lads have just gotten over their hangovers (and venereal diseases,    Australia/New Zealand Air Corps Air Training Plan (ANZAC ATP) With the recognition that high-level bombing is, quote, "for cunts, yankees, and yankee cunts", as well as feedback from pilots attempting high-level attacks who "can't see jack poo poo mate", all bomber and fighterbomber squadrons will incorporate low level naval attack and/or low level ground attack into their training plan. Low level is defined as at or below 1000ft. No.100 Sqd RAAF (Beaufort) will commence Naval Attack Training at 1000ft No.4 Sqd RAAF (Wirraway) will commence Naval Attack Training at 1000ft, with 100% in training. No.5 Sqd RAAF (Wirraway) will commence Ground Attack Training at 1000ft, with 100% in training, and if currently at Townsville, will rebase to literally anywhere else (except Charter's Towers) to make room for those high-level daylight bombing wankers.  "I landed at Charter's Towers and all I got was this lovely paintjob" Radio Free Kobold fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Dec 10, 2018 |
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Dec 10, 2018 02:32
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Planned USN Surface Com orders TF 144 & Minelayers to make best speed for Lunga independently. Minelayers to be escorted from there by TF 144 to Tassafronga hex (Northern tip of Guadalcanal). Its fine if the Minelayers get delayed a day or whatever so they can link up properly. Keep on keeping on.
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Dec 10, 2018 04:48
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Is it worth me tasking my ASW patrol from Brisbane to specifically hunt the spotted submarine or will it be gone by the time they get there?
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Dec 10, 2018 13:00
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FrangibleCover posted:Is it worth me tasking my ASW patrol from Brisbane to specifically hunt the spotted submarine or will it be gone by the time they get there? If you've got the ships to spare, I'd have them patrol in the area for a week or so. The sub will likely linger a bit and they can be a real pain in the rear end in this scenario.
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Dec 10, 2018 14:31
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INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS We have several forms of intelligence available to us, but if you've not got the game, you might be missing a lot of these, or if you are reading the reports, you might be missing some of the nuances. Our main sources of intelligence are intercepted Japanese signals (SIGINT), coastwatchers on Papua New Guinea and in the Solomons, and reconnaissance by our aircraft on Recon, Naval Search and ASW Patrol missions. SIGINT Much of the SIGINT report is useless, telling us stuff we already knew: SIGINT posted:
In other words, there are Japanese troops at Buna and Kavieng, plus a lot more at Truk. There are also a lot of radio transmitters at 96,160, but these are Allied ones from Brisbane. More revealing are the following lines from the report: SIGINT posted:
The presence of Combined Fleet, a major Japanese naval HQ is not surprising, nor is the presence of an aircraft engineering battalion. 1st Amphibious Brigade is more surprising - it is not a formation historically active in the theatre. It is an IJA unit, and is pretty strong, comparable in strength to a USMC regiment. This is its likely TOE  Coastwatcher Reports These are generally unreliable; we have several reports that the harbour at Rabaul is empty, which is highly implausible. The coastwatchers report that there are ships in port at Lae, Buna and Tulagi. These reports are similarly unlikely - photo-reconnaissance of Buna suggests that Buna harbour is empty. There are three interesting coastwatcher reports: SIGINT posted:
The first line refers to the Japanese landing-craft carrier vessel Shinshu Maru, a very useful amphibious asset. I don't think it's based as far forwards as Shortlands, and it might even not be in the scenario, but it is something I want to highlight. The Penang Maru from the second line is a light freighter. It is much more plausible for this ship to be at Shortlands, or it might be a gunboat based on the same hull. The final line is the most interesting. Hex 107,124 is on the direct line between Kavieng and Rabaul. A squadron of IJN CAs starts the base scenario at Kavieng, and this report might be a sighting of these ships moving southwards. This might relate to the TF we sighted this turn? Aerial Recon Our aerial recon reports are relatively uninteresting; quite a few of them relate to sightings of our own TFs by our own aircraft. There are three key reports. Firstly, photo-reconnaissance of Buna by the Lightnings confirms that the harbour and airfield are empty, which is very plausible. Secondly, a submarine has been sighted at Hex 94, 144, two hexes east of Townsville. A submarine sighting was made in the same hex last turn, which would suggest that the sub is just lingering there, and will be lingering there until it runs out of fuel. It would be worth diverting Townsville Patrol to strike against it. The final report is, of course, the TF sighted at Hex 106, 127. The Catalinas spotted four ships, while the game is currently saying eight ships sighted, two of which are DDs. There are three possible options for what this TF is. It could just be a local ASW TF for Rabaul, which would explain why four ships were sighted (the max size of an ASW TF is four ships). However, I think the IJN will not have enough ASW assets to put such a strong patrol into the waters around Rabual. The next option is a fast transport TF heading from Rabaul to Buna or Guadalcanal. It can't be a typical transport TF - there's not been enough time for the troops to pack their kit and get it loaded - so it has to be a fast transport TF. At most, this TF will be carrying a battalion-sized unit; likely an IJN Naval Infantry unit, implying Guadalcanal as the likely target (especially as fast transport assets are under IJN command). The other likely role for the TF is a surface action group, heading to Guadalcanal or towards the Torres Strait. We have some degree of corroboration for this - the coastwatcher report from earlier suggests movement of fast ships from Kavieng to Rabaul, which would make sense, as it would allow the CA squadron from Kavieng to be reinforced there. This would give the IJN five CAs, one to three CLs and 1 or more DDs. This would likely be heading to Guadalcanal - a rather aggressive play, but one I think Goons would make. Heading for the Torres Strait is unlikely. It's a bit speculative, and relies on us having assets there. My opinion is that this is an attempt by the IJN to repeat Savo Island, and I feel this is a significant threat, especially as one of our CA taskforces has fallen behind.
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Dec 10, 2018 14:41
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Just a quick query for you allied players. I'll get the full turn details up tonight but my schedule is a bit up in the air this week so would you be all right with the deadline for orders moving up slightly to midday GMT on the 12th? This would mean I can process the turn right then and there instead of maybe not being able to do it until thursday or friday nights.
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Dec 10, 2018 14:42
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Saros posted:Just a quick query for you allied players. I'll get the full turn details up tonight but my schedule is a bit up in the air this week so would you be all right with the deadline for orders moving up slightly to midday GMT on the 12th? This would mean I can process the turn right then and there instead of maybe not being able to do it until thursday or friday nights. Fine by me, my orders are going in. BANZCOM Naval Orders Townsville Patrol is to move to Hex 94, 144 and chase the spotted enemy submarine. All other task forces are to avoid Hex 94, 144 for the next few turns. Convoy TM-1 is to proceed to Townsville and load 34th Australian Heavy AA Regiment and 43rd Naval Construction Battalion for transit to Milne Bay.
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Dec 10, 2018 15:06
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Radio Free Kobold posted:
There's a few problems I have with this. Firstly, do not remove pilots from your squadrons - we can't reassign pilots between nations in any case (NZ and Australia count as different nations in the game). Secondly, you can only specify missions for training if the squadron is dedicated to training. If the squadron is carrying out another mission, the training will only be for that mission. If you put a squadron on ASW patrol, and on 50% training, fatigue will soon reach unmanageable heights. Just leave the Hudsons on ASW patrol - that's all they're going to be doing throughout the scenario in any case. If you want to train the Beauforts in naval attack, just put them up to 100% training. I'd recommend specifying training missions for the Wirraways as well. Ground attack or naval attack will work well. FrangibleCover posted:BANZCOM Naval Orders Looks good to me.
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Dec 10, 2018 18:29
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godddamn, this game is simultaneously too grog and not grog enough. axed the training for the main squadrons and the hudsons, figured it's better to keep them on ASW instead of training. also switched the Beaus over to naval strike to see if we can do something about that confirmed submarine. not sure if the correct mission for "drop ashcans on subbos" is naval strike or ASW.
Radio Free Kobold fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Dec 10, 2018 |
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Dec 10, 2018 19:09
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Radio Free Kobold posted:godddamn, this game is simultaneously too grog and not grog enough. axed the training for the main squadrons and the hudsons, figured it's better to keep them on ASW instead of training. also switched the Beaus over to naval strike to see if we can do something about that confirmed submarine. not sure if the correct mission for "drop ashcans on subbos" is naval strike or ASW. As far as I know, the only way to get aircraft to attack subs is through the ASW mission. Squadrons on naval attack will not fly against submarine TFs. However, the max range for ASW search missions is half the maximum range of the aircraft, so the Beauforts won't be able to reach the target sub from their present base. I'd just leave the Beaus training for naval attacks - remember they're going to be upgrading to the Beaufort VIII soon, which gets torpedoes, and we want them to be ready for that. Orders for Sniper4625 As Sniper4625 can't make it before the accelerated deadline, I'm posting orders for him. 810th Engineer Aviation Battalion and 128th USAAF Base Force (both at Noumea) begin planning for Woodlark Island - Hex 104 133. 102nd USA Regiment (at Luganville) begin planning for Woodlark Island. Randomcheese3 fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Dec 10, 2018 |
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Dec 10, 2018 19:51
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 Excuse the delay from yesterday. ALLIED DISPOSITIONS 8th August.  Just south of Rabaul - 8 ships at least two of which are destroyers are reported.  Around Noumea ships scurry outwards like an expanding ripple.  Here's the big picture of the combat zone, your troops are landing tomorrow and the carriers are idling. Notably they have not been told to provide any cover to the landings and are only running CAP over themselves.
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Dec 10, 2018 20:45
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 CARRIER COMMAND  Carrier TFs TF 140-142 move south towards allied transports to cover the landing. I think maintain my CAP orders as per previous post: Horsebanger posted:TF141 - Have my fighters sweep henderson AIR FORCE Maintain Previous Orders
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Dec 11, 2018 00:57
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 Allied Orders 8th August 1942 In the west lots of housekeeping is done and as the skies are forecast to be clear the bombing raids on Buna are still a go.  In the east the carriers swing south to hide behind the surface combatants and provide cover for the Guadalcanal landings. Could be a busy day for them if the Japanese attempt to strike at the invasion force! The marines will be landing at first light, good luck! Turn passes to the Japanese side.
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Dec 11, 2018 01:30
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Air, Fast and Submarine Transport Other than the basics of moving troops around via ships there are three other, very important, ways of moving troops and supplies. Air Transport Air transport can deliver either troops or supplies from a base with an airfield to another hex and is done with specialist transport aircraft OR flying boats like Catalina's/Mavis.  There are four types of air transport mission for supplies or troops. Air-drop supplies/Para-drop troops and Airlift supplies/Airlift troops. Airdropped troops or supplies. - Air dropping supplies happens when there is no friendly airfield in the target hex. This is strictly worse than flying in supplies to an airbase as you lose a % of them and the range has to be within the extended range of the planes delivering the supplies as they must do a round trip without landing. However for supply airdrop you do not need a friendly airbase in the target hex or for it to even be a base, merely that a friendly ground unit is present. - Para-dropping troops can be carried out to the extended range of the aircraft designated and must target an enemy owned base hex. Generally each plane will carry only 1-2 squads so you need a decent number to lift a substantial force. The dropped unit/s will perform an immediate shock attack on the enemy so you better hope that you sent enough troops and properly supported them or it could be bloody! Airlifted troops or supplies. If there is a friendly airfield in the target hex the rules are different. You will fly your cargo of troops/supplies to the airbase and land to drop them off. This means you have a chance to refuel massively extending max range and troops don't need to know how to para-drop. Airlift can target any friendly base within the aircraft's maximum range and will fly supplies or unit devices there at a rate depending on how much cargo capacity the planes in question have. Generally 1-2 squads or tons (1 ton = 1 point) of supply per day per aircraft. Heavy unit devices like radar sets, vehicles, artillery etc are not airlift-able as they don't fit in the planes so you'll need to ship them. You can also do it in reverse, picking up troops from the targeted base. Airlift is much more limited in throughput than sea transport but is functionally instant. The only danger is in the enemy has a heavy fighter CAP in the hex there is a chance of them intercepting and shooting down your planes. Flying boats. Here is where it gets really interesting. Most Flying boats can do air transport and there are even special transport variants of some types (mostly Japanese variants). Flying boats (and floatplanes) do not need an airfield to operate from they are capable of flying to and from any hex with a base (onmap flag) or potential base (onmap hexes with small dots in the center) which has coastline access. This leads itself to a some interesting shenanigans. -You can fly in some air support and supply into a dot hex using flying boats then base flying boats or floatplanes out of it as a secret naval search base. Very hard for the enemy to discover. -You can drop a few squads of Para's on unoccupied enemy bases/dot hexes to 'plant the flag' then fly in troops/engineers/air support or simply to occupy the base so that you can drop off troops via sea without having to perform an amphibious landing. Submarine transport Most submarines (SS) have a small transport capacity and in dire straits can deliver supplies to cut off or beleaguered troops with basically no chance of interception. Some submarines are classed as "SST" which means they trade weapons for roomy cargo spaces and can deliver a lot more compared to other subs. This is fairly simple, any base or dot hex with friendly troops can be the target of a submarine delivery, just load them somewhere and tell them to deliver. Fast transport This is the mission which duplicates the real life "Tokyo express." Essentially some fast and small transport ships (Transport converted destroyers (APD's) mostly) and a good number of normal IJN Cruisers and Destroyers have cargo and troop capacities. A Task Force ordered to perform Fast Transport to a designated land hex will maneuver to it's maximum full speed in one 'day/night cycle' distance from the target and when darkness falls sprint in at full speed, drop as much supply and cargo as it can and turn and sprint back for home before the sun comes up. As most fast ships can make at least 8 hexes per cycle (two per turn, the day/night cycles) it is completely possible to start the turn outside of range of air attack, run in to deliver supplies/troops and be back outside of air attack range by the time it is the daytime air attack phase. This is very good for transporting to locations which are interdicted by enemy air but can of course be interfered with by enemy surface combatants or if the enemy decides to get brave and chase you with carriers.
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Dec 11, 2018 13:58
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Combat report for 9th August 1942! TURN FILES   The day starts slowly with some subchasers having a go at an allied sub outside Rabaul. They don't even find it. After this things get interesting... fast.  Surprise!   They drop a lot of shells all over the ground forces but not that many on the airfield. Two planes reported burning.  the transports reach Guadalcanal.  The 8cm guns of the base force try their best but are silenced by overwhelming fire from US destroyers.  American Marines storm the beaches.  Tulagi isn't left out of the fun.   At dawn the CL Tenryu heaves under a torpedo hits. Working torpedoes!  Spitfires sweep empty skies over Buna.  Helens attack ships off Port Moresby but are slaughtered by Spitfires.  As the morning continues more and more allied planes zoom in at low level to bomb Buna.  The empty airfield gets a bit roughed up but an AA gun shoots down a P-39D.  In the afternoon however a large strike appears over the invasion forces.  It finds the Allied transport ships and at first only a few Wildcats are flying. However 40 miles south are the carriers and superior allied fighter direction sends their fighters sprinting north.   Battling desperately and very short on fuel the Japanese pilots hold the line. While no more than eight Wildcats are shot down many more are damaged and sent scurrying for cover and only two break through to the Betties.  The two fighters wreak havoc on the extremely fragile IJN bombers. Three are downed before the Wildcats are forced to retreat.  However a dozen break through to the Allied ships...  A transport is first, she takes three torpedoes and promptly rolls over.  Strikes on a Cruiser and Destroyer have no luck as the few Betties miss the nimble craft or are damaged by AA fire.  The battle is hard fought and both sides take losses.  To finish the day a large American strike lays waste to an empty Henderson Field.  However Gudgeon catches Tenryu before she can make port! code:  A big transport is worth more points than an old trash-tier light cruiser.   You have massive superiority at both of your landing zones.   3:1 in the air, not bad.   New ship and ground unit!  Forecast says weather is ok tomorrow.  Your Wirraway squadrons can also be upgraded to any of the following options once you get some planes.  Buna appears to be only lightly damaged.  Transports north of Rabaul and the contacts by it are subchasers.  Somehow Milne bay is only lightly damaged.  Half a Kittyhawk sqn is out of action, 5 days for the longest repair.  Over on Aus Chartres has finally got enough aviation support.  Off Guadalcanal the transport groups report that they are nearly fully unloaded.  The Carriers are providing cover and the tardy cruiser force has nearly caught up.  The French are at Townsville and shipping is wandering up and down the coast.  The Minelayers are set to mine the northern end of Guadalcanal to prevent the Japanese reinforcing it.  DD Mahan is looking a bit lost.  Lunga airfield is a bit banged up from your carrier strike.  Notably the Guadalcanal invasion forces have no support assets with them. These are all at Noumea and PP needs to be spent to buy them out. Please link your orders in the spreadsheet! Orders due Monday17th, 7pm GMT Saros fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Dec 15, 2018 |
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Dec 15, 2018 19:24
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planning orders USN Surface Com Mahan's last orders were to go to Espiritu Santo and then begin ASW operations in that area, so I don't know what it's doing in the middle of nowhere. Saros posted:
DD Mahan(currently in the middle of nowhere) join TF 146. I wanted ASW around Espiritu Santo because that's where the carrier's were, but I can't think of any reason to send ships there now so it probably doesn't need ASW at this point. @USN Cargo Com you can send the TFs back to Noumea if you want. We probably don't need the handful of troops and supplies left on the ships. I think if you let them finish they'll be done in the "morning" phase and head back at night anyways, so whatever. USN Ground Com Shock Attack at Tulagi (until we win or combat ratio is under 2x). Shock Attack at Lunga (until we win or combat ratio is under 2x). Deliberate advance towards Tassafronga as soon as Lunga is secured with everyone except the Defensive Battalion (3rd Defensive Battalion currently at Lunga to be stationed there indefinitely so it may as well plan to defend it once we take it). @USN CarrierCom - Please stop shooting up our future airbase. I don't have any engineers to repair it with. @USN ComCom - Looks like we'll need to buy an engineer unit if we want to run planes out of Henderson field. Can one of the people with the game look up what the PP costs for the units at Noumea are so we can make informed decisions about which one to get?
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Dec 15, 2018 20:31
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If I'm reading this right then those bombers that hit Port Moresby flew out of Lae, and Lae is only four hexes away. You know what else is four hexes? Spitfire extended range. It's also looking like Buna is empty and staying that way, so Randomcheese, what do you think about switching the Port Moresby air forces over to focus on Lae? I mean if they want to play that game then I'll gladly play that game, and it looks like attempting port strikes on Buna is somehow hitting the runway more often than not so we aren't losing too much there anyway.
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Dec 15, 2018 21:08
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For your consideration, I would like to present my operational plan
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Dec 15, 2018 21:42
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LLSix posted:Can one of the people with the game look up what the PP costs for the units at Noumea are so we can make informed decisions about which one to get? You have 110PP - 55 of which belong to Commonwealth command though you can request they lend you some. USN Base force - 68PP - 60AS + Radar and some AAA USAAF Base force - 25PP - 16AS [will replenish to 60 over time] Seabees - 27PP - Engineers only EAB - 37P - Engineers only Aviation Rgt - 45PP - 90AS
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Dec 15, 2018 23:51
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Looks like a lot of shells and recon on Milne Bay, might be their next target.
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Dec 15, 2018 23:54
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Thank you Saros. @USN ComCom - 1st USMC EAB is at Noumea. As I understand it, the only Aviation engineers I can control are USMC EAB units (the army has a bunch of aviation engineers but they're grouped with Commonwealth.) I recommend you buy them out with 37 of your 55 PP so we can repair Henderson field. If we're going to try to intercept the next IJN bombardment of Milne Bay, I want to delay shipping the force over until the current transport TFs get back to Noumea so I can use their escorts since most of the surface TFs are going to be needed at Milne Bay. Otherwise we could start loading now and meet it halfway.
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Dec 16, 2018 00:09
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Saros posted:You have 110PP - 55 of which belong to Commonwealth command though you can request they lend you some. Oh my god we have reserved PP. I can have more than one ground unit  Woodchip posted:Looks like a lot of shells and recon on Milne Bay, might be their next target. If I was commanding that CruDiv that hit Milne, I'd be disappointed by lackluster results, but encouraged by lack of opposition. I'd either hit Milne again, hit Port Moresby by darting in under cover of night, or see if I could get lucky raiding the Australian mainland. Hitting the mainland is a bit of a stretch, and there ain't much at Milne Bay to bombard in the first place, so I'd probably pick Port Moresby. Either way, the fact that we don't have naval assets in place to contest this, and that my naval strike capabilities are abysmal at best, means that I would really, really appreciate it if Commonwealth Naval Command did something.
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Dec 16, 2018 02:33
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Feels weird to have land based air ask the navy to help defend it from ships.
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Dec 16, 2018 02:40
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I have six bombers okay. six. they don't have torpedoes.
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Dec 16, 2018 02:46
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INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS - 9TH AUGUST 1942 First off, I've started a spreadsheet for tracking sighted Japanese units here. This is being populated manually from SIGINT, coastwatcher reports, and sightings. This should simplify the task of tracking Japanese capabilities SIGINT As is usual, the SIGINT report gives us some obvious information, with radio transmissions from Rabaul and Shortlands where we expect to see them. There is an interesting possibility suggested by this line: SIGINT Report posted:Radio transmissions detected at 114,164. This may be a Japanese submarine operating in the waters south of Noumea. Equally, it may just be a rogue transmission. This turn, SIGINT does reveal a number of units present in the theatre. SIGINT Report posted:1st Amphibious Brigade is located at Truk(112,108). We have further confirmation that the 1st Amphibious Brigade is operating in the theatre, though it is currently at Truk. This relatively strong IJA unit may well be coming to Papua New Guinea fairly soon. The 8th Area Army is an IJA higher headquarters unit. I am not especially surprised to see this in theatre. As it doesn't add much to combat, I wouldn't worry much about it planning for Port Moresby, though this does confirm our assumptions about IJA objectives. There's not much that can be said about the unidentified DD at Truk - it's where we'd expect to see one turn up, and we expect to get a few. The 35th/2nd(Kitao) Battalion is an IJA infantry battalion, in place at Tassafaronga on Guadalcanal. While it won't stand up to a USMC regiment in prolonged combat, it might be able to delay it until reinforcements arrive. Coastwatcher Reports There's not much to say about these. We get sightings on the bombardment task force that struck at Milne Bay: Coastwatchers posted:Coastwatcher sighting: 9 Japanese ships at 102,132 near Fergusson Island , Speed 27 , Moving West There's no real surprises there. There's no other interesting reports - a few contradictory ones about how many ships are in Rabaul Harbour, a few reports of ships in bases that aerial recon suggests are empty, and no other reports of ship movements. Aerial Recon Aerial recon reveals three IJN task forces. The two near Rabaul seem to be ASW patrols, performing local ASW duties. The one further north apparently contains an xAKL, suggesting it is a transport or cargo TF transporting troops or supplies to Rabaul - it's right on the typical path between Truk and Rabaul. It could also be a warship TF, relocating forward to Rabaul. There's not much to go on about this TF, and all we do have is speculation. Hopefully S-44 will be able to make an attack on it, giving us more information about it. It's also worth noting that the sub off Townsville has not been spotted by aircraft this turn - this could indicate that it's moved, or just that it's finally learned to dive when aircraft fly over. Combat Reports Combat reports are a great source of information, which is usually very accurate in terms of land and air units, though fog of war can creep in when air attacks on ships are carried out, with pilots misidentifying ships. The first combat report we got this turn saw S-38 get attacked by two IJN sub-chasers, both of the CH-13 class. This small craft is roughly comparable to our Bathurst-class ships in terms of armaments and capabilities, though it is slower, has worse depth charges, and cannot sweep mines. We then saw Milne Bay get bombarded by a strong IJN task force, with five CAs, three CLs and one DD. Combat Reports posted:CA Kako There are four older CAs, two Furutaka class ships and two Aoba class ships, plus the more modern Takao-class ship Chokai. The older ships have six 8in guns, while Chokai has ten; a modern CL should be able to equal one of the older ships, but Chokai is a significant opponent even for one of our CAs. The CAs are also very poorly armoured, with our RAN and RNZN light cruisers having the same belt armour as even the modern Chokai. None of the three CLs is especially threatening. Yubari is the most modern of the three, a one-off experimental ship built in the early 1920s, and mounting six anaemic 5.5in guns. The two Tenryu class ships are WWI-era vessels, armed with just four 5.5in guns. Neither class is especially well armoured, and they are not very durable either. Our large French destroyers should be able to take them. Yunagi is a Kamikaze-class destroyer, of similar vintage to Yubari. Armed with 3-4 5in guns and 4-6 torpedo tubes (depending on upgrade), she is generally outclassed by our modern destroyers. The threat from IJN torpedoes is significant, but this can often be overstated, with torpedo accuracy often being low. We will likely have the advantage in a gun battle. Tenryu sustained three torpedo hits from Gudgeon. This likely sank her, especially given reports of severe flooding and engine damage from the combat resolution. While this is a nice kill, it is not especially significant, and will not affect IJN capabilities for future operations. That said, it might encourage caution until further ASW escorts are available. It looks like this SAG is being based at Rabaul. I expect further nuisance raids on Milne Bay and other outlying targets, possibly including attempts at raids on amphibious shipping at Guadalcanal. I would recommend caution when attempting to move units or supplies forwards until this TF is neutralised. In the air, we have confirmation of several IJNAF and IJAAF units. There were sightings of two units of level bombers, one IJAAF and one IJNAF. The IJAAF unit is a unit of Ki-49 'Helen' bombers, most probably based at Lae. It does not seem like a large unit, likely containing no more than 12 aircraft, as we saw only five aircraft attempting to attack TF 14, the local ASW TF at Port Moresby. All of these aircraft were shot down. The IJNAF deployed a larger unit of G4M1 'Betty's against the amphibious TFs at Guadalcanal, with 15 aircraft making the attack. These aircraft are likely based at Rabaul - we can also expect to see an Air HQ there, as the aircraft attacked with torpedoes, which require the squadron to be near one. Both of these squadrons were on naval attack duties, an odd choice for the Ki-49s. Neither of these represent much of a threat to us as long as we can keep good CAPs up. We also spotted two fighter squadrons, again one IJAAF and one IJNAF. Both of these were escorting the Betty attack against Guadalcanal, suggesting they're both based at Rabaul. Both squadrons are likely of the same size, ~18-24 aircraft, with the IJAAF using the Ki-43-Ic 'Oscar' and the IJNAF using the A6M2 'Zero'. They also sustained heavy losses against the USN CAP, meaning they are unlikely to pose much threat in the next few days, but are worth worrying about in a week or so. I would also expect to see another fighter squadron at Lae, though it could be argued this is unlikely as the Ki-49 attack was not escorted. On land, we got a look at the garrisons of Tulagi and Lunga. Lunga is garrisoned by an IJN infantry battalion, plus elements of a second, as well as three construction engineer units. These should pose no threat to the USMC units landed. Tulagi is defended by elements of an IJN infantry battalion, a construction battalion, and an aviation support unit. This too will fall quickly against a determined attack by the USMC. COMMONWEALTH/US ARMY ORDERS Commonwealth Army/Air Force - continue air operations against IJAAF installations and ports in Papua New Guinea in concert with the USAAF. Begin preparations for moving the remaining brigades of 2nd Australian Division and 5th Australian Cavalry Brigade to Port Moresby - this should include setting these units to plan for this base. US Army/Air Force - continue air operations against IJAAF installations and ports in Papua New Guinea in concert with RAAF and RNZAF units. As Charters Towers now has sufficient air support, you may bring the B-17s of 19th BG online. Begin moving the 11th BG to Charters Towers to join the air offensive against Papua New Guinea - I'd like you to take this in steps, moving units to Sydney/Newcastle/Brisbane before moving it north. Commonwealth Navy - carry on with operations as planned. You may use Force F as you see fit to discourage IJN raids against Port Moresby and shipping in the Torres Strait area.
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Dec 16, 2018 02:49
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I'm happy to support operations at Milne Bay and to attempt to intercept enemy bombardment forces there, but I can't afford to just barge around the Coral Sea at random getting rodgered by Betties. I think the original plan of sortieing at maximum speed when an enemy TF is spotted still makes most sense, especially in terms of defending Port Moresby. I'd also like to submit that the Japanese got what looks like a lot of hits on Milne and damaged around a squadron of Kittyhawks. They might think we only have one Kittyhawk unit there and therefore assume the base is suppressed and go for Moresby. How are the transports doing, Randomcheese? Still coming up the coast?
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Dec 16, 2018 03:01
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FrangibleCover posted:I'm happy to support operations at Milne Bay and to attempt to intercept enemy bombardment forces there, but I can't afford to just barge around the Coral Sea at random getting rodgered by Betties. I think the original plan of sortieing at maximum speed when an enemy TF is spotted still makes most sense, especially in terms of defending Port Moresby. I'd also like to submit that the Japanese got what looks like a lot of hits on Milne and damaged around a squadron of Kittyhawks. They might think we only have one Kittyhawk unit there and therefore assume the base is suppressed and go for Moresby. Good thinking on the Kittyhawks, though we must assume they're thinking we have two units of them, as they're in the base scenario. They might be thinking we only have the one at Milne Bay, though. I don't know what sort of recon they have of Milne, so I don't know if they think the base is properly suppressed. I agree they might be coming for Moresby next, which will at least give us some warning. The transports are still coming. Currently both convoys are one hex NE of Bundaberg.
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Dec 16, 2018 03:23
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Operation Hornet's Nest Japanese bomber raid on Port Moresby ASW Group, 1942, Colourized Well now we know where their bombers are. I'd be remiss if I just let a perfectly good opportunity for air battle slip by me, especially if it's in favour of bombing a long dirt field (again). Let's hit them in kind today and see if they learn to leave us well enough alone. If they gently caress off then we can go back to bombing a dirt airstrip, if not then we can start a rousing game of Aerial Gallantry with posthumous VCs for everyone. Commonwealth Air Assets & Taskings: 14 Sqn RNZAF and 15 Sqn RNZAF will conduct low level land attack on Lae, with emphasis on aircraft and airfield facilities. Attack no higher than 1000ft altitude. 16 Sqn RNZAF will conduct high-altitude (~10000ft) fighter sweep over Lae, equipping drop tanks to increase effective range. Maintain existing CAP over Port Moresby. 17 Sqn RNZAF will conduct mid-altitude (~5000ft) fighter sweep over Lae, equipping drop tanks to increase effective range. Maintain existing CAP over Port Moresby. Requested Allied Assets & Taskings: 35th FG/41st FS (P-39 Airacobras @ Port Moresby) is requested from US AIR COMMAND to escort 14 Sqn RNZAF and 15 Sqn RNZAF in daylight bombing on Lae. Estimated range is 4 hexes. 8th FG/80th FS (P-39 Airacobras @ Port Moresby) is requested from US AIR COMMAND to escort 14 Sqn RNZAF and 15 Sqn RNZAF in daylight bombing on Lae. Estimated range is 4 hexes. I don't want to appropriate your fighters just because they're handy, so I'd appreciate it if US Air Command would sign off on this (or don't). My Spits are going to be flying facefirst into their standing CAP so it shouldn't be too much risk for your guys; I just don't want to send unescorted bombers if it can be helped. We're hitting Lae with or without you, so consider this your invitation to the party. Feel free to bring along whatever other bombers you've got. I know you've got at least two metric fuckloads of heavy bombers lined up on the mainland, maybe see if they're in range? By my count it's 16 hexes from Charters Towers to Buna and 19 to Lae. Let's run this poo poo into the ground.  "Is there something you'd rather be doing than marching up and down the square?" "Well I'd really like to go out to Papua New Guinea and join the war..." Ground Unit Requisitions: Spend 52 PP to unlock 5th Australian Cavalry Brigade currently in Townsville, place them under 1st Australian Corps Command, plan for Buna, and move by sea to Port Moresby. Spend 7PP to unlock 102nd RAAF Base Force currently in Rockhampton, place them under RAAF Command, move by rail to Townsville, then by sea to Milne Bay Transport command is authorized to shuffle these units around by rail as needed in order to accommodate existing convoy arrangements. Total Cost: 59 PP >55PP from Commonwealth budget >4PP from American Lend Lease Program (Thanks!) Special Requests: Saros, please attach the calvin and hobbes comic to the next Japanese turn post. Radio Free Kobold fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Dec 17, 2018 |
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Dec 16, 2018 04:04
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TO: USNSURFCOM, CINCPAC Sorry to do this chaps, but I'd like to have the Commonwealth cruiser TF back from you please. The most vulnerable stage of the Watchtower landings will be past by the time the Japanese cruisers can sortie again so the risk to you is much lower now, while we think they're going to try for Milne or Moresby again and we currently have no credible counters to heavy cruisers on our side of the theatre. Obviously you can retain your ships from the task force which I think you should be able to combine with your other assets to maintain a strong surface screen.
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Dec 16, 2018 11:24
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USNCOM PROVISIONAL ORDERS First off, thank you Randomcheese for the Intel post, highly informative; if you can keep doing that throughout it'll be a major boon. To Saros Using 37 of 55 available PP, request unlock of 1st USMC EAB (currently at Noumea). To NAVCOM / INFCOM Navally, I am also pretty sure you ordered DD Mahan to Espiritu Santo - but you have policing it covered. Frankly until offloading is complete your orders are simple; keep your bombardment TFs supporting the Marines. As we discussed I would rather not shuffle about TF compositions in the middle of a naval operation, but please also see the bit to HM Royal Navies at the end of this - we agreed earlier on having escorts sent back with the transport TFs, but you'll also have a few scattered ships from the former Commonwealth TF next turn that will need to be re-integrated into your 'main' TFs. (Also, please ensure that some of the escorts currently on transport cover duty stay that way. We'll need them for Parapet, and in the short-term, getting the EAB to Henderson.) In terms of the Marines, as we agreed in Discord, shock attack at Tulagi and Lunga per the orders referenced in your planning post. Please also add a rider that once Lunga falls, have x2 regiments left to defend Lunga and all other forces sent forwards to attack Tassafaronga. Seems IJA defences here are poor and I'd rather grab the whole island before reinforcements arrive - and we've enough air recon to determine they're not almost on top of us. Have the Tassafaronga force shock attack on arrival if you think that will take the base quicker; I should think it would given minimal opposition. To CARCOM / AIRCOM Carrier-wise, switch your bombing target to Russell Island (Hex 113, 136) this turn. I want the IJN thinking we're laying the groundwork there and sticking to the historical playbook as 'canonically', that was a target after Guadalcanal. Buys us a little more time for Parapet and hopefully might draw them the wrong way. Other than that, hold your current positions to ensure all important assets are in CAP rather than LRCAP range. Naturally land based air is not an immediate concern until Henderson Field is in hand; but hopefully that'll be next order phase. To SUBCOM / LOGCOM First off, congrats for getting the first kill of the operation.  Your subs can remain as they are for now.Logistically, time for you to start shuffling. Once the transports are freed up from ferrying troops for Watchtower, most of your transports will auto-route back to their home ports (I think Noumea in this case), and that's fine. To: HM Royal Navies I have no objection to returning the Commonwealth cruiser TF next turn. As we will have a lot of transports leaving Lunga/Tulagi this turn I would like to retain them for one more turn until they're off and away. After that, of course you can have them back. (NAVCOM take note) Also, while I would like to retain SOME of our PP as we'll have assets to unlock for Operation Parapet down the road, the Commonwealth can officially have 10 PP from our pool this turn. Might squeak you out one more ground unit. ADDENDA: Cancel spend on 1st USMC EAB, please. Instead, take three transports and grab the 31st USN Base Force at Luganville and get them moving to Lunga, then overland on to Tassafaronga. This should have the Av Support to develop Henderson once it is in hand. Serpentis fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Dec 16, 2018 |
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Dec 16, 2018 12:08
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Alright, next turn is good enough for me. I appreciate what you're saying about not splitting task forces half way through.
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Dec 16, 2018 12:14
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Radio Free Kobold posted:Operation Hornet's Nestb]14 Sqn RNZAF[/b] and 15 Sqn RNZAF will conduct low level daylight bombing on Lae, with emphasis on aircraft and airfield facilities. Looks good to me. Make sure you clarify what altitude you mean by 'low level' - I expect Lae to have more heavy AA and more AA machine guns than Buna, but not quite as much medium AA. Make sure to keep roughly 30% of your Spitfire squadrons on CAP. I don't want any sudden surprises. Radio Free Kobold posted:
I'd rather wait and buy out all of these units at once - it'd make organising shipping easier. We also do not need more aviation support at Moresby - we've got enough to sustain operations at present, and, after the RNZAF base forces already there reorganise, will be able to add at least one more squadron. I'd rather the 102nd RAAF Base Force be deployed to Milne Bay, which is closer to expanding and needs additional aviation support to enable us to base more units there. Currently, it will cost 46 points to buy out one brigade of 2nd Australian Division to I Australian Corps. It will cost 52 points to buy out 5th Cavalry Brigade to the same HQ. It costs 27 points to buy out the 102nd RAAf Base Force to any HQ, or just six points to buy it to I Australian Corps or RAAF Command. When paying PP to unrestrict troops it is important to specify which HQs you want them moved under - it costs less to shuffle a unit to a subordinate formation of its original HQ than it does to shift it to the jurisdiction of a completely different command. Our command structure at present is divided into two overarching restricted commands, Australia Command and SoPac Rear Area. These have under them a number of subordinate HQs. For Australia Command, 1st Australian Army, I Australian Corps and RAAF Command are unrestricted commands. The troops already on Papua New Guinea are under the command of I Australian Corps, and it would simplify logistics greatly if all units moving to PNG were under its command. Moving I Australian Corps from Brisbane to PNG is also an important future goal. SoPac Rear Area is more complicated; while it does have several unrestricted sub-commands to which units can be transferred, none of these HQs will turn up in the game. Instead, units must be transferred to the unrestricted South Pacific HQ, another command area on the same level of the org tree as SoPac Rear Area. This will be more costly than freeing up units from Australia Command.
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Dec 16, 2018 13:03
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Randomcheese3 posted:I'd rather wait and buy out all of these units at once - it'd make organising shipping easier. We also do not need more aviation support at Moresby - we've got enough to sustain operations at present, and, after the RNZAF base forces already there reorganise, will be able to add at least one more squadron. I'd rather the 102nd RAAF Base Force be deployed to Milne Bay, which is closer to expanding and needs additional aviation support to enable us to base more units there. Speaking of, do you want me to shift some more freighters vaguely northwards, maybe as far as Rockhampton, so that they're closer to hand when we want them?
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Dec 16, 2018 13:19
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FrangibleCover posted:Speaking of, do you want me to shift some more freighters vaguely northwards, maybe as far as Rockhampton, so that they're closer to hand when we want them? I think leaving them where they are is fine for now. Rockhampton's not that far up the coast, and puts them into the range of Betties if the Japanese get sneaky. Leaving the transports at Brisbane makes best sense.
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Dec 16, 2018 13:55
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USA/AAF Orders 19th BG (Charters Towers) Begin AIRSTRIP BOMBING at LAE 11th BG (Noumea) REBASE to Charters Towers by way of Sydney. 35FG + 8th FG Request from our Commonwealth brethren APPROVED, ESCORT bombers at LAE Everyone Else Keep on keeping on. sniper4625 fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Dec 16, 2018 |
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Dec 16, 2018 20:20
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Do TF 144 & 145 have enough fuel to sail 1 day S then loop around to Milne Bay? @Commonwealth Surface Command, I'm planning to sail the combined cruiser-hunting TF Straight West once its done its escort work then turn it over to your control.
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Dec 16, 2018 20:49
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LLSix posted:Do TF 144 & 145 have enough fuel to sail 1 day S then loop around to Milne Bay? I'd probably prefer them taking a diagonal southwesterly path until they reach Townsville's latitude and then go straight across, we know the area is within Torp Betty range of Rabaul so I want to do all my southerly movement ASAP.
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Dec 16, 2018 21:21
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USN Ground Com @Saros - requesting transport for the unrestricted USN Base Force at Luganvile (Espiritu Santo) to Lunga. Please take at least 3 DDs as escorts (This is the highest priority for untasked DDs). Unrestricted USN Base Force at Luganvile (Espiritu Santo) start planning for Lunga per above transport request. Shock Attack at Tulagi (until we win or if combat ratio is under 2x cancel the attacks). Shock Attack at Lunga (until we win or if combat ratio is under 2x cancel the attacks). USN Surface Com Saros posted:
DD Mahan(currently in the middle of nowhere) join TF 146. TF 144 merge into TF 145. TF 145 continue covering transports as previously ordered. Once the transports are a full day's sail South of Gaudalcanal (hopefully out of bomber range) split off all 6 CAs, the CL, and 3 modern DDs into TF Counterpunch. TF Counterpunch sail SW (we're planning to loop them around to Milne Bay outside Japanese LBA range). Remaining ships in TF 145 continue escorting the transport TF.
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Dec 16, 2018 22:31
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SUBCOM "Good job boys! Guess it was worth threatening BuOrd after all." After discussion in the discord: TF5 is to continue north with the Seal to be sent to join the USS Salmon and the rest of TF5 to head to Hex 107,127 (the hex in blue near Rabaul/Feni Islands) Other sub orders remain consistent. As mentioned in USNCOM's orders, supply convoys to be set up between Espiritu Santo, Noumea, and Lunga/Tulagi as needed.
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Dec 16, 2018 22:40
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