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Old 06-24-21, 11:45 AM   #70
Molon Labe
Silent Hunter
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Along the Watchtower
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Threadfin View Post
Grim. Hang in there mate.

Is there any offensive action you've been thinking of that could put your opponent off balance? Or is a fighting withdrawal the only real option at this point?

You need your subs to start getting in and hurting his ability support all of these far-flung occupations, if that's a thing. But you have neither the numbers or I guess reliable torpedoes to get this done.

I'm interested in the submarine side of this. Are you choosing where they patrol? If so where are you sending them? As you surely know (I can tell from your posts you are well-versed in the Pacific war), dull-minded leaders such as Christie and English wasted many patrols by placing them at route terminuses, terminii, err, at the place they dock. lol

But experience, hindsight and sharper brains of course showed that there were several chokepoints that could have proved far more profitable in interdicting the merchant traffic of the Japanese while allowing the sea room needed to be effective, and out from under the most intense enemy ASW. It's tempting to put boats outside Rabaul or Truk I would imagine, but they may prove more effective say in Makassar or Luzon straits. Could a concentration of available submarine striking power in very few places make a difference and maybe make him reign in his audacity?

Maybe if you get the time and want to hit on how you approach the submarine war, I'd be interested in how it works mechanically and from a tactical or strategic point of view. But I know how much work it is just producing the reports, so no obligation of course. Things should hopefully be brighter for 1942, as more boats come to the theatre, and their effectiveness improves due to technical advances (radar, improved torpedoes, depth capability, tubes, capacity, etc). Not sure how deeply this is modeled, but I'd expect that your boats will become more effective, all else being equal.

Good AAR, mate. Keep it up.
I've looked around to try to find a username for him here, as far as I know he's not here. But, I've been googling random naval stuff before and been directed to subsim threads. So, OPSEC is something I have to think about when posting here. You'll notice I have a lot more to say about what's already happened than about what happens next.

Right now I'm looking at the potential for limited counteroffensives in the DEI and SouthPac areas. I've appeared to have the stronger fleet in SouthPac for awhile. In DEI, even with three task forces operating near Kendari, it looks like his Optempo has caught up with him and a lot of surface forces have had to pull back for refuel/rearm/maintenance. But, with that reduction in forces, he's being more methodical. I wouldn't attack those three task forces off Kendari with what I have there now, too much strength in a small place. In SouthPAC, the big question is airpower. Rabaul is going to be a problem soon, if it's not already. The KB isn't far from there. The CVLBG might be headed there. And the way he has cruisers just sitting off Fiji waving at our scoutplanes is just weird and unsettling. It really looks like he's trying to bait me.

Right now the Dutch sub fleet are focused on choke points in the DEI. US Asiatic fleet boats are mostly tasked to shipping lanes from the Luzon area to the southern/western part of Japan. US West coast boats are mostly sitting off Japan or major hubs like Truk and Rabaul. I think he's figured out most of my patrol areas and has adjusted, I'm starting to open up a little to try to find the traffic. The sub mission is still mostly anti-troop transport at this point, he's conquered so little of the resource areas there isn't going to be a whole lot of fuel/resource convoys to interdict.

EDIT: about the sub's capabilities. All torps have a dud rate, but the US torps are especially bad until sometime in 1943. So that is modeled. Also, just about every ship has an upgrade schedule. That includes things like radar, so yes, they're going to get more effective over time. Speaking of which, it's almost January, I should look at the upgrade schedule and see who's due.

EDIT 2: here's an example of a scheduled upgrade. This one improves the subs AA guns and puts some radars on it.
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Last edited by Molon Labe; 06-24-21 at 12:13 PM.
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