Do you like WW2 grand strategy naval wargames?

[metadigital]

The US took over my sechool and used it as a base during WW2; they even built what we used as the theatre up until the eighties (at which time a purpose-built structure was designed, with enlarged capacity and a more in-keeping fa

[alanschu]

That's what I'm hoping!

 

I got lucky. One of my airbases, Amboina (on an island just off the west tip of New Guinea) was able to get a couple torpedo hits off on some of their carriers, setting fire to two of them!

 

All I'm waiting on now is for the CLAA Juneau to arrive, and escort the Wasp to Pearl Harbour, and I should hopefully have my first offensive underway.

 

Troops in India are also preparing to move into Burma to open up the Burma road into China. Currently the air forces are doing what they can to keep the japanese airforce grounded, by pounding the airfields throughout Burma. I'm also doing strategic strikes, hitting resource and oil producing centers in the region (since resource centers also provide additional supplies, and I'm hoping to cut them off). Port Morseby is also being built up, with hopes of putting strategic bombers (B-24s and B-17s) there to help cut off Japanese supply lines to Rabual, and help me retake northern New Guinea.

[metadigital]

Dad "landed" on an airstrip in New Guinea built on a mountain: the gradient was about 30% ... Gordegazelle (definitely need to check that spelling) Ridge?

[alanschu]

I guess Port Moresby was a big base during the war. The abilities the place has certainly seem to indicate so, as they have large capabilities for ports, and particularly naval bases.

 

I'm forming up a lot of the evacuations from the Dutch East Indies at Darwin, and then moving them over to Port Moresby to help in its defense. It just got bumped up a few more notches in importance in my campaign, as Rabaul (the big base Japan captured in the area, and an excellent staging ground for them in the South Pacific) is very much withing bombing range of my heavy bombers. The extra support and defenses from the Dutch units will come in very handy.

[metadigital]

Deep water harbours are probably the attraction; all the diamonds, gold, copper, oil and raw materials were still in the ground ...

[alanschu]

Well, the Atlanta-Class, Anti-Aircraft Light Cruiser Juneau has just arrived in San Francisco, and will escort the Wasp to Pearl Harbour. I will split the carriers into 3 task forces, each consisting of two carriers, and a host of escorts. 1 Task Force is going hunting, while the other two prepare for the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. One task force will have the responsibility of performing air cover directly over the region, including a surface task force set to bombard the atoll. The other will provide a picket of coverage to prevent reinforcements from the west.

 

The hunter Task Force will make its way towards New Guinea, where the Japanese Carrier fleet was most recently spotted. I just recently refitted my torpedo bombers from the craptacular TBD Devastators, to the TBM Avengers. The Avengers are significantly faster, much more maneuverable, and have a few extra machine guns on board as well. They also have an operating range of 200-300 miles, instead of 140 miles. Wildcats will be flying CAP and Escort (the Hellcat is coming soon, and then the ZOMG Corsair...the most maneuverable plane in the game, but the Wildcats will do for now). SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers will be licking their chops, ready to drop their 1000 lb bombs on any flat deck they come across.

 

Lets get ready boys. It's hunting time!

[alanschu]

A small update about the war effort.

 

The troops along the Indian-Burmese Border have cross over into Burma, and are converging on some town with a really hard to type name. Airstrikes were done at Mandalay to cripple the airfield there, and now the air campaign is focusing on the target.

 

Also, the war at Canton has taken an unexpected turn. I tried making an offensive push, and was pushed back quite handily. Unfortunately for the Japanese, he figured it'd be an appropriate time for a counterattack. Japan did much worse in the counterattack than I did on the initial attack, with well over half of her artillery guns being put out of commission in the failed counterattack. As a result, I've been able to make continued attacks, and have begun wearing down their fortifications. It's August, and I expect Canton to be liberated by the Chinese (with some help from a few Indians and some British as well) probably by the end of the month, if not sooner. This should cut off Hong Kong, and make it relatively easy pickings.

[metadigital]

Is there a quicksave / restore-before-the-ship-sunk-type feature?

[alanschu]

There is a quicksave. But I'm long past the sinking of the Pennsylvania. I would have had to probably restore prior to the attack to save it though, or perhaps try sending it to the slightly closer Johnston Island, which has a much smaller port.

 

I ran into a roadbump in Canton, China. Since it was my first offensive, I was getting excited. But it seems much of my success came because the Japanese were suffering from insane disruption after the attacks on me, so it made them easier to counterattack. With every attack I did, it made for more disruption on my part, so I wasn't able to capture the town by the end of the month. I do have more reinforcements incoming, and I have still done wonders on eliminating a lot of their guns. I'm currently fixing most of my shorter range mortars, and when I get most of them operational again, I'll give another push.

 

 

And the invasion of Tarawan Atoll was a success! A surface fleet spearheaded by the BB North Carolina bombarded the crap out of it, and provided cover for the troop landings, while Dive Bombers from 4 carriers performed heavy attacks. I'm now moving in a pair of Naval Engineer Divisions, as well as a Base Division, to repair the infrastructre and start improving the airfield. It's possible to upgrade this airfield enough to launch B-17 fighters from it, which will go provide heavy air cover over the Marshall Islands.

 

And north of the Marshall Islands, the Carrier TF consisting of CV Hornet and CV Wasp absolutely demolished a small convoy heading into the Marshall Islands. They've since retired to Wake Island for Fuel and Supplies, and will continue patrolling the convoy routes. A pair of aircraft carriers seems so much more effective than a couple of submarines

[Rosbjerg]

I don't know why .. but I really like these daily updates alanschu.. I feel like I'm getting first hand information on an actual war..

[metadigital]

So the refueling (repair you've mentioned), and re-arming of the ships is realistic, then? Have to pick up more boom-balls before shooting off the cannons?

[Llyranor]

Oh yeah, alanschu, quick question: ever play anything from the Harpoon series?

[Gfted1]

^Was SSN-668 (circa 1990) from that series?

[alanschu]

Actually I have not played Harpoon.

 

 

So the refueling (repair you've mentioned), and re-arming of the ships is realistic, then? Have to pick up more boom-balls before shooting off the cannons?

 

That I do. Carriers also have a "Max Sorties" which is basically how many missions you can fly, so once that's out, the flight operations stop.

 

There is an ammunition ship, but it doesn't really become effective until 1945, when the boats are able to reload at sea.

Edited January 3, 2007 by alanschu

[alanschu]

Wooo, my air force out of Amboina hit the pay dirt. The Japanese got a little too close to it with a couple of carriers, and once I realized it, I switched out the commanders of the bombers with exceptionally aggressive leaders. I suffered fairly high losses, especially compared to normal, but after a few days of withering the Zero CAP, I was able to get multiple torpedoes and 500 lb bombs to hit a few of their carriers. I sunk one, and damaged one as it limped away. And as luck would have it, I stumbled across it limping away with a submarine, which put more torpedoes into it, sending it to the bottom of the sea just south of Japan.

 

That's 2 fleet carriers, 2 light carriers, and an escort carrier I have sunk. As a result, I'm feeling even more aggressive with my carrier Task Forces. Carriers Wasp and Hornet just completed their rounds, operating out of Wake Island. They caused extensive casualties, primarily to shipping fleets heading into the Marshall Islands. After doing a few rounds, they retired to Pearl Harbour for the October Upgrades (seems 80% of my fleet was eligible for some sort of refit on 10/42).

 

Most of my fleet is in harbours, enduring upgrades at the moment. But I'm not too concerned, as the loss of 5 carriers (to none for myself) has to be exceptionally devastating for the Japanese Navy. Enterprise and Yorktown are continuing a sweep of northern New Guinea, and have made devastating hits against the merchant fleets heading to Rabaul. Planes operating out of Guadalcanal sighted some heavy cruisers, as well as some battleships. They were able to score some hits with some bombs, but the ships were able to move away before my carriers could get nearby. The Southwest Carrier Task Force is returning to Darwin, and is expected to head down to Sydney for upgrading.

 

I am also getting a new ship type quite frequently, called the SC (Sub Chaser). They are armed with light guns, a Mousetrap and two twin depth charge racks. They aren't very experienced, but after some Shakedown cruises, I've dispatched them to Australia. While not being particularly devastating, there are constant reports of submarines off the coast of Townsville, and on the east coast of New Guinea. Most of their casualties have just been the ASW patrol craft hunting them, but they are becoming a pest. The Air Forces flying out of Port Moresby and Townsville have been invaluable however, sinking several submarines themselves.

 

Still, hopefully these subchasers can give them a run for their money. The Mousetraps are significantly more accurate (since they are a forward firing weapon that explodes on contact), albeit not quite as powerful.

 

Once the Destroyer Escorts start coming out (in about 100 days), I'm hoping for it being rough times on the Japanese submarine fleet. Until then, the crappy Flush Deck Destroyers, Minesweepers, and Sub Chasers will have to do.

[alanschu]

A small update on the attacks in Burma. Red lines represent air forces, blue is naval, and green is land. Sorry about the quality, it looked better prior to uploading it to the shack.

 

 

 

Attacks on Myitkyina were initially quite successful, though Japanese troops of attempted a counterattack. A large force came from Imphal in the North, secured the railroad, and split into two groups. A large force began digging in along the railroad, in anticipation for the expected Japanese counterattack from Mandalay, while a few divisions and brigades were dispatched east, to flank Japanese forces in Myitkyina.

 

Shortly after the fall of Myityina, Chinese troops began advancing towards the border, in an attempt to both keep the Burma road open, as well as prepare for an assault on Lashio.

 

Akyab in the west has a decent port, and a large airfield, and is a tertiary objective as it allows for additional air coverage over Mandalay, as well as Rangoon. It's also easy to supply, with its port. Forces in Calcutta, Dacca, and Chandpur prepare for an amphibious assault to take the naval base.

 

C-47 transports make daily supply runs to the North Army, as well as Myitkyina.

 

Submarines, as well as carrier task forces, guard against resupply (less of an issue, since there's a land connection into Malaya and Siam/Thailand), and more importantly reinforcement, directed towards Rangoon. On the plus side, it is very possible to isolate Rangoon from rail lines, once the intial objective of Mandalay is achieved. After that, it's only resupply via sea, and the 4 aircraft carriers operating out of Diamond Harbour (Calcutta) are loaded with several Swordfish Torpedo Bombers will attempt to interdict any attempts to resupply. Lack of supply will cause natural attrition, and make capturing Rangoon exceptionally easier. Capturing Rangoon serves as a doorway into Siam and Malaya. It has extensive airfields and a large, deep water port. It's they key strategic objective of the entire region. Taking Siam and Malaya will take pressure off of the Chinese, and likely also lead to Japan losing control of Indochina. All three aspects will be devastating to Japan's resources and industry.

[alanschu]

Excellent, the offensive into Burma is going quite well. Heavy air coverage from India let me capture Mandalay shortly after Myitkyina fell.

 

From there, I was able to dominate air superiority over Rangoon, and capture Lashio and Tuang Gyi with relative ease. All that is really left is Rangoon, and I can use that as my new forward base of operations, and perform strikes into Siam and Malaya with ease.

 

 

Hordes of troops have also landed in Australia, preparing to fortify and retake the northern areas of New Guinea. Unfortunately, Palemberg has finally fallen, and it seems like Java Island will fall too. Slowly trying to extract who I can out via submarines. The Japanese air coverage is way too dangerous to try anything else.

[metadigital]

I think you should try the Himalayan escape route.

[alanschu]

The Japanese did! Ensuing battle resulted in 20000 Japanese casualties, and the complete dissolution of the division! :D

[alanschu]

Heh, Allan the jerk-troll seems to be making enemies by agreeing with someone that commented about how the price was atypically high for a game that was 2.5 years old.

 

The typical argument is that "Well, when you get it, you won't buy other games, and you'll play it for many years," so I figured I'd ask if they felt that Starcraft and Half-Life were better games. Waiting for the fireworks to explode out of that one!

 

 

Go Here if you wish to see grognards defend themselves. I wonder if this will hurt my chances to get a PBEM game

[Pidesco]

Tell them that if it wasn't for the price, I would have already bought the game. Mostly, because of your posts in this thread.

 

 

You have 10000 posts, you schmuck. Hooray for you.

[Llyranor]

Yeah, very inspiring thread. I've been thinking of doing some AAR thread as well for some other wargames too.

 

Needs more screenies.

[Llyranor]

(which unfortunately also leaves me without any good candidates for a PBEM game).

 

You dastard! Look what happened to the previous one!

[alanschu]

Oh yeah, I forgot about CM ahahahahaha

 

If I can find the file, up for still playing it hahaha?

[Llyranor]

I'm slowly bidding my time through my increasing collection of wargames. So very slowly In any case, the CM session is quite in the past. I don't even remember my plan.

 

As cool as PBEM is in concept, I'm more a coop dude than a PvP dawg. And it kind of sucks that we can't really make any sort of AAR out of it as we post about it before of that. I'd be more interested in actually writing some AARs, actually.

 

Still, always game.