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 OOBs! Please excuse the double-post. These should remain accurate until reinforcements arrive, which I'm informed won't be for just shy of a month in game.First off, a list of all active Task Forces currently. I will put TF breakdowns under the appropriate command as to who owns them. @NAVCOM also note we presently have no dedicated ASW TFs to answer your earlier question.  NAVCOM First off the two big Amphibious TFs (our invasion forces). TF 143, headed for Lunga:    And TF 147 headed for Tulagi:   And here are the three Surface Combat TFs:    Per earlier discussion, once they get into Lunga, you may break up TF 146 and put its ships into TF 144 and 145. Also, your land-based air assets:  And perhaps most importantly of all, the USN / USMC ground forces we control:    The vast majority of what is yours currently is on TF 143 or 147 as an invasion force. CARCOM The three main air capable TFs we have currently:    You may want to talk to NAVCOM about the North Carolina (BB) in TF 140; I personally think it should remain with you until Guadalcanal itself is captured and we have time for reorganisation. Also, the naval air assets under your command:   The caveat here is that most of the Seagull or Kingfisher equipped units in the first image are single or double sea or float planes flying off of cruisers or BB's, and so for the most part self-contained. Don't worry about those; focus on the Wildcats (fighters), Dauntlesses (dive bombers) and Avengers (torpedo bombers). SUBCOM You have six subs presently out on patrol, as follows:       MIXED And finally, unassigned ships:     
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Nov 25, 2018 11:37
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...OK, you'll have to excuse the triple post, but ORDERS:LLSix posted:US Marine Com Obviously things changed since these orders were first posted and you have less troops not invading Guadalcanal than expected, but I will snip these bits out to answer questions: yes, you can set units to prepare defense - you essentially tell them to "plan" on the hex they're currently in and will build up Preparation much like an invasion force would. As for the Engineer units - to quote the manual: "These units include Combat Engineers, Construction units (such as the famed U.S. Navy SeaBees), and Base Force units. All engineer squads and vehicles can construct and repair base facilities. Combat Engineers can also destroy enemy fortifications during combat. Construction Engineers have only the word “Engineer” in the device name. Combat Engineer units have additional nationality and function designations (e.g. IJA Engineer Squad, Soviet Sapper Sqd, Aus Cmbt Eng). Base Force and other Aviation ground units contain Aviation Support troops to service aircraft, Naval Support Troops to service ships, and engineers to construct and maintain the base facilities. Without them, aircraft won’t be flying often and ships will not unload or repair as quickly. Note that Aviation Support troops are not attached to any particular squadron – their presence at a base is enough to support the air units present." Basically as none of those are combat engineers, they are all the units that we move into ports/airfields after we capture them to get them up and running. These are things you and SUBCOM (as the Logistics commander) will need to consider moving on Turn 2/3 to get them into Lunga/Tulagi and start setting up shop. My only addition to the "similar smaller bases" list would be this island:  as a landing at the Southern base on this island (Thousand Ships Bay) and marching overland to capture the Northern base (Rekata Bay) gives us two small ports and - according to recon - a small airbase at Rekata Bay. Munda however is an equally valid option, so we can return to this in future. As for Townsville, it's a size 6(5) port; it's only just smaller than Noumea and twice as large as Espirtu Santo. I think it can be treated as a safe re-arm/re-fuel/repair port for your BB's, if that's what you were querying. Horsebanger posted:
Agreed in full. Good stuff  Just be prepared to react next turn once the IJA/IJN wake up. Jossar posted:I think I have 1-2 more things that need to come through, but want to make sure the majority of the SUBCOM orders are up in the thread. All good as far as I'm concerned with your subs! Your assets for the logistics will be primarily the "A#" ships in the unassigned naval OOB last post. Saros will I have no doubt optimise task forces as needed; I think your orders are fine as is and he will handle the precise detail of how many ships need moving to make (say) Lunga work.
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Nov 25, 2018 12:05
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US Carrier TFs
USA Air Forces
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Serpentis posted:As for Townsville, it's a size 6(5) port; it's only just smaller than Noumea and twice as large as Espirtu Santo. I think it can be treated as a safe re-arm/re-fuel/repair port for your BB's, if that's what you were querying. Just to be clear, while Townsville will be safe to refuel at, it doesn't have a repair shipyard, and doesn't have the facilities needed to re-arm anything larger than a heavy cruiser. You'll need to move an AE or AKE there to re-arm battleships there.
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Nov 25, 2018 12:21
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Randomcheese3 posted:Just to be clear, while Townsville will be safe to refuel at, it doesn't have a repair shipyard, and doesn't have the facilities needed to re-arm anything larger than a heavy cruiser. You'll need to move an AE or AKE there to re-arm battleships there. Noted, thank you. ADDENDA TO NAVCOM: According to the unassigned list, we have two AE's - USS Nitro and USS Pyro, Christ, did the West Coast just want these to randomly explode or something? - posted at Noumea currently. You'll need to shift one to Townsville to make it BB re-armable. I would recommend this. If we can split the weight of resupply jobs for larger ships between the two ports, it would mean less chance of overstacking / running out of supply at Noumea. Of course, distances involved would probably mean we'd only want to send ships back to Townsville if needed.
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Nov 25, 2018 12:31
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Serpentis posted:Noted, thank you. There's a few AKs in Sydney that can be converted to AKEs. It might be better to convert one of these, and send it north, than send one of your AEs - less risky.
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Nov 25, 2018 12:53
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Based on discussion in the discord, I would like to have the sub tender in Noumea move towards Townsville, conditional on receiving an escort from NAVCOM.
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Nov 25, 2018 14:16
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BANZCOM Naval, Orders, 4th August 1942 Organisation Force F, to be composed of HMNZS Achilles, Georges Leygues, Duguay Trouin, Le Fantasque, Le Triomphant and HMASs Warramunga and Arunta. Convoy CP-1, to be escorted by HMASs Quickmatch and Swan, L'Alcyon and Le Fortune and composed of sufficient amphibious shipping from Brisbane to lift 32nd Australian Heavy AA Regiment. Convoy TM-1, to be escorted by HMASs Nestor, Nizam, Nepal and Warrego and composed of sufficient amphibious shipping from Brisbane to lift 34th Australian Heavy AA Regiment and 43rd Naval Construction Battalion simultaneously. Brisbane Patrol, composed of HMASs Ballarat, Cairns, Cessnock and Ipswich. Townsville Patrol, composed of HMASs Kapunda, Launceton, Lismore and Towoomba. Sydney Patrol, composed of HMNZSs Kiwi, Moa and Tui and HMAS Mildura. Orders Force F is to move to Townsville and use it as a base to intercept Japanese raiding forces into the Western side of the Coral Sea. If the raiding force is considerably superior to your own endeavour to engage at night using RDF. The escorts of Convoy CP-1 are to proceed to Brisbane and pick up their charges, informing Command which ships have been selected, and then the convoy is in turn to proceed to Cairns and load 32nd Australian Heavy AA Regiment for transit to Port Moresby. The escorts of Convoy TM-1 are to proceed to Brisbane and pick up their charges, informing Command which ships have been selected, and then the convoy is in turn to proceed to Townsville and load 34th Australian Heavy AA Regiment and 43rd Naval Construction Battalion for transit to Milne Bay. All Patrols are to transit to and keep the area around their assigned port clear of enemy submarines. Ships currently in USN Task Forces are detached to their operational control. Additionally, the Submarine Depot Ship HMS Maidstone at Noumea may be detached to USN control for convoy to Townsville immediately. If this option is not taken up then it is to remain at Noumea for now. FrangibleCover fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Nov 25, 2018 |
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Nov 25, 2018 15:58
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some suggestions for the smaller unused forces Use the PGs at Noumea as ASW patrol NE of Noumea and N of Koumac 2 DMs from Noumea to ASW , 1 W of Efate, 1 NW of Luganville AM Skylark and Conflict to ASW patrol W and NW of Noumea AM Starling to ASW patrol SE of Port Moresby AM Stark rebase to Townsville, ASW patrol E of Townsville AM Advent ASW patrol E of Sydney Take a pair of DDs from Noumea and patrol around the Russel Islands as an advanced force. Once Milne Bay is secure, get the AS Holland there and start staging subs forward
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Nov 25, 2018 16:04
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Radio Free Kobold posted:Regarding distribution of light and heavy AA, I've got one light AA, two heavy AA, and two bases to cover. I felt it better to go with concentrating the heavy AA at the more valuable base and leaving Milne Bay (which is essentially an airstrip and a couple squadrons) lightly defended. We won't lose anything but a few Kittyhawks if Milne Bay gets hit, and it's at the very edge of bomber range from Lae, so I don't think they'll go for it. The light AA regiment has 36 40mm Bofors AA guns. These are excellent guns, capable of doing more damage to Japanese aircraft than the 3.7in guns the heavy AA regiments have. However, they can only reach up to 9000ft, which means that most Japanese attacks will overfly them. The 3.7in guns have mediocre damage, but can reach up to 28,500 feet. If we put the light AA regiment at Milne Bay, then it will effectively have no AA defences against Japanese level bombers. Pairing the light AA regiment with a heavy regiment at Port Moresby will give it a layered AA defence; the light regiment will cover the base against any low-flying strikes, while the heavy regiment will protect against higher flying aircraft. Also, if we're having to load the light regiment at Port Moresby, it means that we will have a convoy in the danger zone around New Guinea for longer than I would like. I want to minimise the risk to our sealift assets where possible, and this will raise the risk to them for no good reason. EDIT: When you're buying out units, it costs just as much to unlock a Militia division as it does to unlock a regular one, whether or not elements of that unit are already unlocked. Given that the regulars are significantly better, I'd rather you unlocked them first. FrangibleCover posted:BANZCOM Naval, Orders, 4th August 1942 Looks good to me. Could you also task TP1 to pick up the 43rd Naval Construction Battalion, and deliver them to Milne Bay? I've received permission from the USN to use them, and buying them out to RAAF Command will only cost 6pp. As noted above, I'd prefer to have the heavy AA regiment from there at Milne Bay too. Randomcheese3 fucked around with this message at 20:33 on Nov 25, 2018 |
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Nov 25, 2018 20:11
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Randomcheese3 posted:Looks good to me. Could you also task TP1 to pick up the 43rd Naval Construction Battalion, and deliver them to Milne Bay? I've received permission from the USN to use them, and buying them out to RAAF Command will only cost 6pp. As noted above, I'd prefer to have the heavy AA regiment from there at Milne Bay too. Radio Free Kobold posted:Regarding distribution of light and heavy AA, I've got one light AA, two heavy AA, and two bases to cover. I felt it better to go with concentrating the heavy AA at the more valuable base and leaving Milne Bay (which is essentially an airstrip and a couple squadrons) lightly defended. We won't lose anything but a few Kittyhawks if Milne Bay gets hit, and it's at the very edge of bomber range from Lae, so I don't think they'll go for it. I need this decided on before we do anything, what do you want me to ship and where do you want me to ship it? I'm behind Randomcheese on this, mostly because I don't want to spend time loading transports at Moresby as well as unloading.
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Nov 25, 2018 20:57
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Thirty six Bofors 40mms, versus some mediocre not-even-four inch guns? Yeah gently caress that we'll keep the """light""" AA.FrangibleCover posted:I need this decided on before we do anything, what do you want me to ship and where do you want me to ship it? I'm behind Randomcheese on this, mostly because I don't want to spend time loading transports at Moresby as well as unloading. Heavy AA to Port Moresby & Milne Bay, and that's all for now.
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Nov 25, 2018 22:43
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 Touglas Bacarthur, USA/USAAF Liaison Alright, so it looks like most of you GIs are tied up in red tape! Flyboys, you're up! 19th Bomber Group (B-17)  REBASE to CharTower, then begin attacking operations against Buna 22nd Bomber Group (B-26)  22/19 and 22/33 REBASE to Rockhampton. Begin ASW along sectors marked, 19 along RED, 33 along YELLOW. 3rd Bomber Group (A-20)  Begin ASW operations along BLACK line 80th Fighter Group  Reserve 50% for CAP, use remainder to ESCORT bombers over Buna. sniper4625 fucked around with this message at 00:17 on Nov 26, 2018 |
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Nov 25, 2018 23:24
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USN INFCom Orders Turn 1 All units with a task at scenario start carry out that task (e.g. guadalcanal units). Please set all ancillery flight craft on cruisers and other non-carriers to something sane, naval search I assume. 9th USMC Def Bn - plan to defend current location, Noumea. Expand the Townsville Port. USN NavCom All units with a task at scenario start carry out that task (e.g. Guadalcanal TFs and ASW patrols) except where otherwise specified. TF 144 redirect destination to Tassafronga hex (Northern tip of Guadalcanal) and patrol there.  Please pick out 1 DD from the unassigned units at Noumea with good AA per carrier TF and vector them to meet up with and join their respective carrier TF. Presumably near Guadalcanal. Since there will be three of them, put them in their own TF for now so they can support each other while sailing to meet the carriers. Form TF 191 and send it to mine Tassafronga hex (Northern tip of Guadalcanal) and afterwards return home to Noumea. I am hoping to interdict any attempts to deliver supplies to Guadalcanal by the enemy. TF 191 to be composed of the following ships DM Gamble DM Montgomery DM Tracy DM Preble DD Frazier DD Russell Add 2 DDs as escorts to the transport fleet carrying VMF-223 and VMO-251 to Luganville if they aren't in range to rebase without being loaded on transports. Use the PGs at Noumea as ASW patrol NE of Noumea and N of Koumac AM Advent (currently at Sydney ) to escort the next supply convoy leaving from Sydney. AM Starling and AM Lark begin ASW operations near Port Moresby since that's where they start. AM Adroit rebase from Brisbane to Townsville and begin ASW operations in that area. AE Nitro rebase to Townsville escorted by 2 DDs with decent ASW (escorts rebase to Townsville as well) Use at least 2 DDs to escort every supply convoy leaving Noumea. Rebase the the 2 oldest and least useful DDs at Noumea to Sydney to provide escorts on demand for the supply ships there. LLSix fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Nov 26, 2018 |
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Nov 26, 2018 02:47
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@Commonwealth dudes AM Starling and AM Lark are sitting in Port Moresby, so I'm going to hand them over to your operation control for now. They're technically minesweepers but I've set them to ASW this turn so they're not idle until you can take over. @USN CarCom I've barely got cruiser parity with historical Japanese forces and we know they got reinforcements so I desperately need some of the CAs currently escorting your carriers back. I'm begging you to combine two of your task forces ASAP so I can safely retask some of the escorts currently assigned to you. At this time, I intend to leave my sole BB with your TFs. It's possible I've got a few more useful units hiding but I think I gave orders to all offensive and most ASW eligible units except for the pool of DDs at Noumea I'm reserving to draw supply escorts from.
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Nov 26, 2018 02:56
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No probs, it's half past two in the morning so I'll sort out what's going on with the AMs tomorrow. ASW around Moresby is probably what I'd do anyway.
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Nov 26, 2018 03:24
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 Well the first turn went off with nary a hitch. However I do have some smalls requests for when giving orders. Firstly please try group commands for a singe unit together. Having move and action commands for units separate means I have to go back through, find them, confirm, etc etc which about doubles the time it takes to actually issue the order. Secondly if you're grouping together ships from multiple ports it's better to note which ships are where so I don't have to go find them.   The Mosquito's ordered to fly to Port Moresby [37 hexes!] mostly make it except for one unlucky bugger who simply disappears never to be seen again.  A further three are rendered temporarily nonoperational by bad landings or mechanical issues from the long flight. Two days to repair for all.  Some B-17 fly to Chatres Towers but about half of the bomber group were not airworthy and are crated up and dispatched by truck or train.  The bombers will be reassembled once they arrive tomorrow but this could take some time. While the airfield is big only 11 aviation squads are present when 54 are needed. Onto the Japanese turn!
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Nov 26, 2018 22:02
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Saros posted:Secondly if you're grouping together ships from multiple ports it's better to note which ships are where so I don't have to go find them. I thought all the ships I grouped together were in the same ports. I wonder which one I messed up on.
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Nov 26, 2018 23:16
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A couple of DD at Brisbane you seem to have thought were at Sydney, no big deal.
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Nov 26, 2018 23:46
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LLSix posted:I thought all the ships I grouped together were in the same ports. I wonder which one I messed up on. That was probably more the Commonwealth than the USN. Not a major problem, and not one for you. Commonwealth/US Army Well, sorry about the mess-up with the B-17s at Charters Towers. US Army/Air Force - could you strategic move in an aviation support battalion from Townsville, and replace it with one from Brisbane, as discussed on Discord. Leave the B-17s stood down until we get them in position. USArmy/AF, Commonwealth - we've got to free up some administration space at Moresby, or our air units won't fly as effectively. I'd recommend withdrawing the CW Beauforts to the mainland for now. There's not many more places to put planes, though, so this is not a high priority. Let's move over to strikes on Japanese airbases rather than ground troops as well. US Army/AF - We need more reconnaissance. Put your F-4 Lightnings at Townsville on recon duty, focusing on IJN airbases on New Guinea. CW Navy No important tasks for this turn, but the Coastwatcher reports did throw up this important note: quote:Coastwatcher Report: CM Yaeyama reported in port at Rabaul This refers to an IJN minelayer, which isn't present in the original scenario. This may be a misreported cruiser, or could be a real threat.  She has sixty mines. While they're only small ones (the second smallest in the entire database), they're still a danger. If the IJN does have her, I expect them to use her defensively, to defend bases against naval bombardments. More confirmation is needed, though. Also, aircraft spotted a likely submarine off Townsville, so be aware of that.
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Nov 27, 2018 00:12
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For the nerds amongst you I put excel exports from WITP Tracker in the turn files folder on dropbox so you can look up sizes of bases, airgroups and ships.
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Nov 27, 2018 00:26
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Time to scrape some av support to Townsville and airlift some to PM.
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Nov 27, 2018 01:30
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Saros posted:For the nerds amongst you I put excel exports from WITP Tracker in the turn files folder on dropbox so you can look up sizes of bases, airgroups and ships. GoogleDoc'd
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Nov 27, 2018 01:46
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Ground unit information Lets talk about Preparation. Ground units can be told to 'prepare' or plan for any base hex. Essentially this is a % counter which tracks how ready they are to perform combat operations (especially amphibious landings) in the hex. It represents planning for a location, getting the right maps, training troops for the terrain etc etc.  This unit is planning for Port Moresby and is 50% prepared. While having a high level of preparation on a unit for a hex it is fighting in provides some small combat bonuses the major use for it is during amphibious landings. Units which try to land in a non-base hex or a base hex they have not prepared for can expect over 50% of the unit's devices (devices are all the subcomponents of a unit like Tanks, artillery, infantry squads etc) to be 'disabled' and for it to suffer high levels of disruption which is bad news especially when you are trying to perform a contested amphibious landing. This disablement/disruption does not happen in base hexes you already own however but landing rate is limited by the availability of naval support and the port size. A unit 100% prepared for a destination can expect no more than a few % of it's devices to be lost or disabled. Preparation also passes through from a unit's HQ structure. If the corps and army level HQ's above the unit are prepared for that destination and within their command radius (1-9 hexes depending on the HQ type) they give both further combat bonuses and assist the amphibious landing process. The allies have special "Amphibious HQ's" which give these bonuses even when loaded on ships but these are a very specialised late-game toy and generally HQ's need to be unloaded at a base within range. Preparation increases at 1-2% per day which can speed up slightly if the HQ is preparing for the same target and within range. As a rule of thumb slightly less than three months is how long it takes to completely prepare for a target so as you can see amphibious operations can't just be carried out on the fly! You also don't accumulate points while loaded onto ships you have to be on land. When changing targets for a unit's preparation up to 25% of accumulated preparation points can be kept when switching to a new target which can rise to 50% if the units various HQ levels are also planning for that target. It's necessary in WITP to plan invasion months before the actual date so I advise thinking about where you may want to land and having units start preparing for those locations now. For the Allies especially a lot of their units are on-map at the start but 'restricted' so they can set multiple targets across the restricted units and then simply buy out the desired units with the destinations they want. Disabled and Destroyed devices. Lets look at the first day's airstrike, two squadrons of P-39 fly in at treetop level and beat up the poor 144th infantry regiment. 1 disabled infantry squad and 1 disabled support squad and 19 casualties. Sure thing but what does this mean?  Casualties includes KIA/MIA/Wounded and not all are permanent, it;'s the games guess at how many combat ineffectives there are and doesn't actually have a real in-game effect. It basically exists to give combat reports some grounding. As ground units suffer damage they have the components which make them up (devices) disabled and then destroyed. Devices which take damage are first disabled - rendered combat ineffective and then if they take a second hit they are destroyed. The key difference is that disabled devices recuperate slowly by themselves as long as there is sufficient supply and the unit is not actively fighting, you can see the amount of disabled devices by type in the unit screen in brackets (0), in the example above the 30th Australian is at 100% strength so no devices are disabled. This is sped up by being in big bases, having your HQ in range and having good leaders. Destroyed devices however are gone forever. To replace the hole in the units table of equipment (TOE) they need to be in a base with lots of supply and on rest mode. This will slowly draw spare devices of that type from the sides reserve pool which can be quite limited for some scenarios. I.e. as the allies you don't get a lot of 25 pounder artillery pieces so losing a divisions worth is a disaster. The main takeaway is that as units get more disabled the chances of losing devices permanently increases so it's best to rest beat up units instead of throwing them into the fray again and again. Malaria and the jungle. Basically everywhere you'll be fighting in this scenario is in the 'Malaria zone.' Essentially every ground turn units spend in the jungle outside of large bases they will take some small amount of device disablement as well as fatigue and disruption as men get sick or exhausted. This is mitigated by being kept in good supply which allows recovery of disabled devices and faster recovery of disruption and fatigue but units out of supply will deteriorate fast.
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Nov 27, 2018 13:13
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Know Your Enemy: Imperial Japanese Army Air Force While we've seen some of our own aircraft in action, I think it's worth thinking about what the enemy might have, and how to deal with it. I'm going to be starting with the IJAAF, as it's likely the force the Commonwealth and US Army are going to be running into first. The main IJAAF fighter is the Nakajima Ki-43 'Oscar':  The Oscar is a long-ranged, very manoeuvrable fighter. Capable of outmanoeuvring any fighter we have, it does have two disadvantages. Firstly, it is slow. A top speed of just 308 knots means that it is slower than our first-line fighters, meaning that we will outclass it in an energy fight. The other main disadvantage is the weak armament. The Ki-43-Ic in the image here is the most heavily armed variant of the Oscar, and it has just two .50 cal machine guns; the most lightly armed variant has two rifle-calibre machine guns. Our American-built fighters have six .50 cals (plus a really inaccurate 37mm cannon on the P-39s), while the Spitfires have two 20mm cannon and four .303 machine guns. The Oscar is also rather less durable than our fighters. In a head-to-head fight, our fighters will outclass these handily. The IJAAF is in the process of developing a replacement for the Oscar, the Nakajima Ki-44 'Tojo', which may enter service in the next few months.  Tojo is a significant improvement over the Oscar. Faster than, and with a heavier armament than the Oscar, it is a capable opponent. Its main disadvantages are the short range, and, once again, the weak armament. Two .30 cals and two .50 cals is still outweighed by Allied aircraft from earlier in the war. The IJAAF has three main level bombers that we are likely to encounter in this theatre. The first of these is the Mitsubishi Ki-21'Sally', roughly equivalent to our B-26 Marauders.  The Sally has a slightly weaker bomb-load than the B-26, with just four 250 kg bombs compared to six 500 lb for the B-26. Sally also has a weaker defensive armament, consisting solely of .30 cal machine guns. It is, however, longer-ranged and more manoeuvrable than the B-26. Sally is a durable target, more durable than the USAAF's A-20s or the RAAF's Beauforts, but with less armour. It's a reasonably capable medium bomber. The IJAAF's equivalent to the A-20 or Beaufort is the Kawasaki Ki-48 'Lily'  A relatively quick, but lightly armed bomber, it has a lighter bomb-load than the A-20 or Beaufort. Its defensive armament is also unimpressive. It is, however, as durable as either aircraft (albeit with no armour), more manoeuvrable than either, and has an impressive range. Altogether, though, Lily poses a minor threat compared to the IJAAF's other main bombers. The final IJAAF bomber we're likely to see is the Nakajima Ki-49 'Helen':  Helen is similar in capabilities to Sally, with the same bombload and a comparable speed. The main advantages Helen has over Sally is that Helen is one of the only armoured bombers available to the IJAAF, a 20mm cannon in the tail turret, and a few extra hexes of range. This will make Helen harder to destroy than other IJAAF bombers. Much like Sally, it is a capable medium bomber. The IJAAF does not, at present, have an equivalent to the P-38 or Mosquito in service. They are working on the Kawasaki Ki-45 'Nick' heavy fighter to fill this role.  Compared to the Mosquito, Nick is slower, and has a much weaker armament and bomb load. However, Nick is more manoeuvrable, and slightly more durable than the Mosquito. It is also more reliable than the Mosquito. Compared to the P-38, which should be in service by the time Nick enters service, the P-38 is faster, better armed and longer-ranged, while being more durable. The P-38 is, however, less manoeuvrable. Our single-engined fighters generally outclass Nick, being faster and more manoeuvrable, while having an equivalent armament.
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Nov 27, 2018 17:31
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What kind of escorts do we think the Japanese are sending with their supply convoys? I saw in Grey's game that he was too short on DDs to provide even a single ship to escort all of his supply runs.
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Nov 28, 2018 17:06
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LLSix posted:What kind of escorts do we think the Japanese are sending with their supply convoys? I saw in Grey's game that he was too short on DDs to provide even a single ship to escort all of his supply runs. Six Chutais of Betties, probably. I wonder if we can run air strikes against convoys going in to Buna from Moresby though.
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Nov 28, 2018 18:46
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LLSix posted:What kind of escorts do we think the Japanese are sending with their supply convoys? I saw in Grey's game that he was too short on DDs to provide even a single ship to escort all of his supply runs. The IJN have some light DMSs (destroyer, minesweepers), plus some gunboats to protect their convoys; they will be getting some specialised escorts later. I doubt they'll detach DDs to escort convoys, but they might have enough to do so FrangibleCover posted:I wonder if we can run air strikes against convoys going in to Buna from Moresby though. I want to, but none of the aircraft we have right now are good for that. Once we get some Beaufighters and B-25 Mitchells, we'll be running strikes as often as possible.
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Nov 28, 2018 19:39
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For convoy escorts, we can probably expect older destroyers at best. Something like a Minekaze or a Fubuki maybe. The IJN only started rolling out kaibokans (corvette/sloop/DE equivalents) in '43 to '44 and newer destroyers would be earmarked for the fleet. We could probably strike convoys in the Buna-Lae-Gasmata triangle with medium bombers out of PM, but again space and airgroups is an issue; we only get five or six air groups there right now so we'd probably have to focus on one, maybe two kinds of bomber operations in that area.
Radio Free Kobold fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Nov 28, 2018 |
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Nov 28, 2018 21:25
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Pop quiz lads, from doing the spreadsheeting. WITP has one allied aircraft type with three engines. What is it?
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Nov 28, 2018 23:13
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FrangibleCover posted:Pop quiz lads, from doing the spreadsheeting. WITP has one allied aircraft type with three engines. What is it? Dutch Do-24 floatplane
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Nov 28, 2018 23:23
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Allied Turn, 7th August 1942. Turn files  Theatre map.   Coast-watchers report a minelayer in Rabaul.  In total all 24 Spits sweep Buna - to no opposition.  Beauforts drop some bombs over the Kokoda trail but no effect is visible.  Then the P-39 come in and strafe/bomb with some effect.  Japanese Flying boats spot your AM's out of Port Moresby.  And both Port Moresby and Milne bay have Japanese recon planes fly overhead.   Replacements stream in to understrength units.   Moresby airbase has a few damaged planes from last turns operations.  Milne has the two Kittyhawk squadrons.  Townsville is largely making ready the replacements it's groups have received.  Chatres still has insufficient aviation support units.  Luganville has two squads of Wildcats but almost no supplies.  Effatehas another and some Cats of ASW. No units are performing Naval search from any of the USN bases at this point.  Noumea is slowly getting the B17 group back to 100%.   The carriers and invasion/covering forces are separating out as without orders to follow each other their separate speeds pull them apart. A large sub wolfpack has also sortied from Noumea.  The Marines are charging for Guadacanal.  TF 15 has drawn slightly ahead.  TF147 is going for Tulagi.  Saratoga and her escorts have pulled ahead of the other carriers.  Force F is moving up the Australian coast and a number or ASW and Supply TF's are milling about. Orders due Midday Thursday 6th, GMT Orders Spreadsheet
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Dec 3, 2018 14:38
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I'm kind of okay with the surface combatants arriving ahead of the invasion force. They should still react towards any spotted enemy fleets I think and I really don't want the invasion forces to arrive before the surface fleets. I could tell them to stick with the fleets until the last day before their destination and then let them sweep ahead. Not sure how that would play out mechanically though.
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Dec 3, 2018 17:27
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no opposition over buna  someone get the heavy bombers in there.Move the Beauforts from Port Moresby back to Townsville, orders for Naval Search/ASW Patrol in Coral Sea, vicinity of Milne Bay & nearby islands if range permits. Otherwise, continue previous orders.
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Dec 3, 2018 17:32
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@Saros USN - NAVCOM Have the surface TFs escort their respective TFs. To help identify them TF 144 (currently N of Noumea) should be escorting the minelayers to Tassafronga TF 145 (currently N of Noumea) should be escorting the landing force for the Guadalcanal main island (Lunga) TF 146 (currently N of Noumea) should be escorting the landing force for the Guadalcanal smaller islands (Tulagi) DD Mahan(currently at Noumea) rebase to Espiritu Santo and then begin ASW operations in that area, focusing on sealane towards Noumea (not sure how wide an large an area it can patrol but I don't want it wandering far). Mahan isn't designed for ASW but I don't have anything better to use for it in that area. Keep on keeping on otherwise and continue to provide escorts on demand as previously established. Ground Com 24th US Regiment and 112th Cavalry Regiment, both currently in Noumea, plan for an invasion of Thousand Ships Bay (Hex 114,136). Keep on keeping on. Float to victory my pixel mans! LLSix fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Dec 4, 2018 |
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Dec 4, 2018 05:17
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LLSix posted:I'm kind of okay with the surface combatants arriving ahead of the invasion force. They should still react towards any spotted enemy fleets I think and I really don't want the invasion forces to arrive before the surface fleets. Changed my mind about this, obviously. Double posting to keep the order post clean. @CargoCom - Jossar  Discord pointed out that you've got a bunch of ships soaking up all the supply from Noumea. Would you kindly arrange a supply convoy from Sydney to replace the supplies. My ships are going to need lots of bullets when they get back and I don't want my marines going hungry because we only had enough supplies to half load your cargo ships.
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Dec 4, 2018 05:22
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LLSix posted:DD Mahan (currently at Noumea) rebase to Espiritu Santo and then begin ASW operations in that area, focusing on sealane towards Noumea (not sure how wide an large an area it can patrol but I don't want it wandering far).   Functionally there is very little difference between the two classes. Mahan has an extra main gun and a different torpedo arrangement. Both are good surface combatants and not very good at AA or ASW.
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Dec 4, 2018 09:38
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We don't have to be good at ASW, we just have to be better than the Japanese.
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Dec 4, 2018 12:39
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Commonwealth/US Army Not a very exciting turn, that one, but we're still moving forces into position. Just some quick comments before we get into the serious meat of things: Commonwealth Navies: Good work. Not much for you to do this turn, but if there's anything you want me to look up for you, I'm happy to help. Commonwealth Army/Air Forces Looking OK so far. Remember to set 9 Sqn RNZAF on ASW patrol around Brisbane, and pull the Beauforts at Moresby back to Cairns for similar tasking. Also, the Kittyhawks at Milne Bay should be defending that base, not Port Moresby. US Army/Air Force We need to get more aviation support to Charters Towers to support your B-17s. The quickest way to do this will be to march the 52nd Aviation Engineer Regiment there from Townsville - should take two turns. You have two more Aviation Engineer Regiments at Brisbane (51st and 53rd). I'd like you to rail one in to Townsville to replace the 52nd, and the other to Charters Towers. I'd like to establish Charters Towers as a main base for USAAF heavy bombers in Australia. At your discretion, you can also move one of the 121st or 175th USAAF Base Forces north to Charters Towers from Brisbane. Now for the real action this turn: Operation Ocean Drum Commander's Intent: The key to winning the battle in Papua New Guinea is logistics. Both us and the Japanese are at the end of a tenuous supply line, and fighting in the jungle eats a lot of supplies. The IJA will need supplies to feed its troops, keep them armed, replace losses and to prevent its men dying from malaria. Cutting the IJA's supply line will make things much easier for the Australian troops on the Kokoda Trail, and will have a greater effect than providing CAS to the troops. To this end, we will begin a bombing offensive against Japanese port and airfield facilities at BUNA, as well as attacks on Japanese shipping to the area. Forces Committed: The primary forces available for Ocean Drum are the USAAF, RAAF and RNZAF squadrons in place on New Guinea, to be supported by USAAF heavy bombers from Australia once Charters Towers is established as a base for operations. These forces are:
Battle Damage Assessment is to be carried out by the 8th PRS, at Townsville. In terms of naval assets, Force F is to be held close to the Australian coast to cover Convoys CP-1 and TM-1. Once these convoys have unloaded at their respective destinations, Force F may be used to make short raids into the Solomon Sea, at your discretion. We will also request that USN submarines patrol the northern and eastern areas of the Solomon Sea. Targets and Tactics The primary targets for this operation are the destruction or degradation of port and airfield facilities at Buna. Secondary goals are the destruction of IJA and IJN aircraft, and the destruction of Japanese shipping. Suggested tactics are to use the Spitfires to sweep Buna before sending in the fighter bombers (Mosquitos and P-39s) to make medium altitude strikes against the target installations, escorted by the Kittyhawks. Fighter sweeps should clear any Japanese aircraft from the skies - the Kittyhawks will protect the bombers from any fighters left behind. Medium-altitude strikes (~5000 ft) will ensure accuracy, while putting us above the level of the enemy's AA. Naval raids into the Solomon Sea should be confined to short dashes from Milne Bay, and should always remain within range of friendly air cover. Expected Opposition No enemy aircraft are expected to be present at Buna. However, some enemy aircraft may have been moved into position, or have been present but not active at scenario start. Maximum enemy air strength is expected to be 36 single-seat fighters, either Oscars or Zeroes, but this level of force is unlikely to be present. The enemy likely has two batteries of heavy AA and two batteries of medium AA, plus roughly forty AA machine guns. The AA machine guns will not be a threat above ~4000 ft, while the medium AA is a threat up to 8000 ft. The heavy AA will be a threat up to 27,500 ft. However, bombing from higher than 6000 ft will seriously affect bombing accuracy, as our pilots are well-trained for low altitude bombing, but not so well-trained for higher altitude attacks. Enemy naval opposition is unknown, but is likely to be light; the enemy is unlikely to commit forces greater than a heavy cruiser to cover their convoys in this area. I expect enemy naval strength to be concentrated in the Solomon Islands, giving us relative freedom at sea.
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Dec 4, 2018 12:59
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Randomcheese3 posted:In terms of naval assets, Force F is to be held close to the Australian coast to cover Convoys CP-1 and TM-1. Once these convoys have unloaded at their respective destinations, Force F may be used to make short raids into the Solomon Sea, at your discretion. We will also request that USN submarines patrol the northern and eastern areas of the Solomon Sea. In terms of committing Force F I've had another look through the reinforcement schedule and I'm getting another three cruisers and seven destroyers to escort my SAG and my carriers. IMO that's quite thin, even with my non Force F destroyers and the cruisers detached to the Americans, so I'm reluctant to commit them currently. We'll see how the air battle is going and if we can achieve decisive air superiority above Buna then I'll chuck them in, but I don't want to lose them now and then lose the capital ships later because I failed to concentrate force. Another alternative would be that if I can have the cruisers back from the Americans before Force Z arrives (not likely, I think they're going to need them for a couple of weeks minimum) then I could raid with my whole force in theatre which should have enough AA to fend off any leaking Betties after the CAP has had at them and enough surface combat power to flatten Buna and be on our way out quickly.
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Dec 4, 2018 14:03
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| # ? May 6, 2024 20:05 |
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FrangibleCover posted:In terms of committing Force F I've had another look through the reinforcement schedule and I'm getting another three cruisers and seven destroyers to escort my SAG and my carriers. IMO that's quite thin, even with my non Force F destroyers and the cruisers detached to the Americans, so I'm reluctant to commit them currently. We'll see how the air battle is going and if we can achieve decisive air superiority above Buna then I'll chuck them in, but I don't want to lose them now and then lose the capital ships later because I failed to concentrate force. Another alternative would be that if I can have the cruisers back from the Americans before Force Z arrives (not likely, I think they're going to need them for a couple of weeks minimum) then I could raid with my whole force in theatre which should have enough AA to fend off any leaking Betties after the CAP has had at them and enough surface combat power to flatten Buna and be on our way out quickly. I can understand that. Force Z will be turning up in a month, so hopefully we'll be getting the Australian cruisers back before then, especially because the USN will be getting quite a few ships to replace them. Also, one of the cruisers you're getting is the Adelaide, a WWI-era 'Town'-class cruiser, which is totally unsuited for modern warfare, so yeah, we're going to be quite short on light units.
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Dec 4, 2018 14:25
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