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Post by neospapa on Jan 21, 2014 10:57:38 GMT -6
After my first attpempt at a campaign as the Russians failed miserably in 8/1904, I feel it is time to see just how superior the IJN really is (mostly just to feel better about my loss). So, I introduce you to the AAR with screenies and detailed planning notes. Let the war begin.
The settings I chose were based on thoughts Randomizer expressed on another thread. He stated that in his opinion the best setttings for a campaign as the IJN was weekly turns on the normal setting. So, these are the settings I selected.
My goals for the short term are to destroy the dedicated minelayers the Russians possess. These represent a large danger, perhaps the largest danger to my fleet. They are superb vessels and all of my captains know that there is a large bountly placed on them. I know that some Russian DD's can place limited minefields as well, we will deal with them the best we can.
Dangle my fleet close to PA to cause the Russians to sortie the larger units. This may occur as soon as the second turn as the first turn will be spent on training. If I can cripple or damange large units, my fleet becomes safer and merchant shipping too. Also, I know with the many CL's the IJN possesses, they should rule the seas around PA for a while.
I intend to leave the Vlad spuardon alone for a while. I wish to train the mighty cruisers that will eventually seek battle, but only when their training is vastly superior to the Russian ships. These need to be conserved.
I an unsure about the fortress that is PA. I know there are many guns that can hurt capital ships. While I can accept a loss of a BB or CA to another ship in a duel, to accept a loss to coast defense guns is unacceptible.
All of these plans sound really good, don't they? I hope I can execute them. Signing off for now. I will run the first week later tonight and will post this AAR in weekly turn format.
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Post by phoenix on Jan 21, 2014 13:24:03 GMT -6
Yep. They sound spot on. Look forward to the reality.
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Post by neospapa on Jan 22, 2014 15:27:32 GMT -6
I ran into some unexpected delays when I tried to start the AAR. I am looking to start it this evening. I am on US EST.
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Post by neospapa on Jan 24, 2014 7:57:57 GMT -6
First Turn.
I started with 200 OP. I was given 2 missions. I had to destroy Pitzuow Harbor and reach a point SSE of PA with 3 BB. I decided to sortie both the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the Combined Fleet. I would think that at the time the IJN would not have sortied out 1/2 of the BB's. I also sent along the 3rd Crusier Division and some DD's.
I figured that I would destroy the harbor and sweep left toward PA. I used 116 out of 200 OP.
Success!
My mighty fleet easily destroyed the harbor. We were heading SSW when the 3rd div acting a scouts spotted a ship! As they closed at their top speed of 22 kn They identified the ship as the CL Diana. A worthly adversary. She still had not spotted my BB so she closed range with my CL. She hit the CL Kasgai 5 times before the BB's closed. From then, she was hit by the 12 inchers of the BB and sank in a very short time. As we were rescuing the survivors, 2 DD came out of the blue and charged the sole DD I had on survivor duty. She wisely ran at top speed away from the sailors in the water. We picked up 15 survivors.
We scored 19,525 points and the Russians lost -15,279. There is now a spread of 34,804.
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Post by phoenix on Jan 24, 2014 8:31:18 GMT -6
Easier, then?
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Post by neospapa on Jan 24, 2014 9:45:52 GMT -6
Easier in the sense of having far more OP and the ability to deploy the fleet, yes. I am still very concerned over mines and my poor merchants spread across 2 vast oceans. Time will tell.
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Post by neospapa on Jan 24, 2014 21:51:37 GMT -6
Turn 2.
I was given a mission to destroy Anjun harbor. I deployed the third division at 75% strenghth. The CL Kasagi was damaged by the CL Diana in the opening battle of the war. She requires 2 weeks to repair. They handily destroyed the harbor and a near by supply dump. We encountered no enemy shiping this mission. A small transport the Kowa Maru was sunk by the raiding CL Bogatyr alarmingly close to Fusan. The Russian scored 9,995 points to our 5,995. The point difference is now 30,474.
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Post by neospapa on Jan 24, 2014 22:27:52 GMT -6
Third turn.
It was a nail biter!
I was sent out to destroy Pitzuow Harbor again. I deployed the full strength 3rd Division. We destroyed the harbor encountering no shipping. I decided to check our Dalny. I figured shipping would be close. I was right!
My ships in daylight spotted 5 ships. 4 in line and a straggler. I thought this was a battle line and ordered full speed from the stokers. It was the 4 remaining CL's and a DD. My ships were trained to +1 at this point and figured we had 8 inchers on 2 of the cruisers. We starting exchanging blows at 5K yards and closed to 3K. The slowest ship, the CL Pallada eventually fell out of line and was pummelled. Along with the DD. When I was delivering this, the other 3 CL charged me. Their speed was equal to mine and my ammo was seriously depleted. 37% in the Yoshino. I knew I had to have the Russians give a stern chase and run. I steered due West away from PA and my base. We steamed for 5 hours before darkness fell. I was never happier to see darkness. I then set a zig zag course and mde for home.
In the end the CL Pallada though not sunk was riddled with 26 shell holes and battling level 6 fires. I am sure she will be out for a long time. The DD Lietenent Burakov was sunk in port. The only ship of mine that was damaged was the CL Kasagi again. She is in repair for 3 weeks.
The score was 9,904 to -5,554 in favor of the IJN. The new VP difference is 45,932.
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Post by neospapa on Jan 25, 2014 0:31:54 GMT -6
Fourth turn.
We had major fleet action!
I am calling it the Port Arthur Blockship Battle. I was tasked to place 2 blockships at PA. I tasked the Siberia and Tango Maru with this job. I activated most of my fleet. All BB's except Fuji which was under refitting. The 3rd Crusier Div the 6th Cruiser Div and the 4th Cruiser Div from Fusan. As well as 18 DD's.
We steamed for an eternity at 5 knots. When we neared PA there was 2 hours of daylight left. The 3rd Div spotted 4 Russian BB's! 20K yards ahead on our starboard beam. We were between them and PA. I rang full speed on all units and turned the transports to PA with the 2 elderly cruisers of the 4th Div. CL Naniwa and CL Takachihio as close cover. As the distance closed the now expert crews of 3rd Div fired first hitting the DD's accompanying the BB's. The range was then 9K yards and my BB's opened fire. The Russian fearing being cutoff from PA tried to switch course toward PA. That was not possible as I had room to manuver as I was seaside of the Russian ships. Also, I had the speed advantage. They then paralelled my course toward Dalny. The wind favored the Russians. We exchanged blows for the next 1 hour. My ships barely getting scratched. The Russian ships were holding their own and maintaining speed. As they made an abrupt turn toward the minefield at Dalny I gave off pursuit. The Revitstan was burning firercly at this time. Several DD's came up from behind my ships in the darkening skies. We blasted them with everything we had. They were sunk in minutes. Then the CL Askold came up where the DD's were. As it was now raining and night visibility was terrible. She hit the Flagship HIJMS Mikasa a few times. She was then trapped between the 3rd Div and myself. The BB's turned away fearing a torpedo attack and let the skilled men of the 3rd div finish her off. They did in short order. This division now has a +2 rating.
While this was happening near PA darkness still had not fallen and 2 dd's came and tried to attack my helpless merchants. They were 10K yards off the scuttling point. The star of the day were the 2 cruisersof the 4th Division. The charged the DD's landing 6 inch shells on them. One was sunk and the other heavily damaged. The transports now safe we proceeded to PA. The guns had opened fire. The Sibera Maru was hit by a 10 inch shell. I knew she did not have long. Just as she was about to sink she was scuttled in the harbor as was the Tango Maru. Mission Successful!
When all was done. We sank a CL, 4 DD. We moderately damaged 2 BB and lightly damaged 2 more. Also, 4 more DD are in damaged shape.
Our losses were the 2 scuttled transports only! 3 ships were damaged and all will be repaired within a month.
I think the Russians will be quiet for a little while now.
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Post by randomizer on Jan 25, 2014 1:27:39 GMT -6
Cool! Thanks for the report.
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Post by phoenix on Jan 25, 2014 5:13:51 GMT -6
2 great reports. Thanks. It seems like an uneven match, no? Seems like the Japanese gunnery is far better than the Russian gunnery?
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Post by neospapa on Jan 25, 2014 10:02:05 GMT -6
Thanks for reading Randomizer and Phoenix! I appreciate it.
It seems I have discounted the importance of the crew quality value. It does matter greatly. The Russians barely hit me in the last battle and I raked them with accurate fire.
Fifth turn.
After the last battle many of my ships were in the repair yards. I decided to try to catch the Vlad squadron. The ships have trained to be +1 in crew quality. We made it along the estern coast of Japan. There was not sign of any unfriendly warship. The VP difference is 51,748. In other news, our me have cut the RR to PA. A brilliant victory.
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Post by neospapa on Jan 25, 2014 11:22:40 GMT -6
Sixth turn
It was a long one.
We had 2 missions. To get 4 transports to Pitzuow and bombard the enemy harbor of Dalny.
I selected the expert 3rd Cruiser Division. (if you have not noiced, this is my MVP division). They escorted the transports with minimal fuss. While on the way to Dalny, we spotted 2 ships. I thought they may be a harbor patrol of DD or maybe the CL that is left undamaged. It was soon determined it was 2 BB's! I did not like my odds of 4 CL against 2 BB and escorting DD. I decided to run them as far as possible toward my base of Hanju Bay and I immediately activated my 3 BB's that were operational.
We ran at 17 kn for 4 hours SSE toward my base and away from PA. The gallant men dodged all shots. Once the BB's were within 50 nm of Hanju Bay, I rang full speed on my BB's and headed due west. After one more hour the stage was set. I had the crusiers to the north the BB's in the middle and my BB's to the south. The CL's hit the enemy BB's several times. They seemed to bounce. The enemy was escaping! I ordered full speed on my CL and turned toward the BB's. Within 10 minutes, we were very close and getting hit by the 6 inch guns of the Tsesarvitch and Petropavlosk. Just then an explosion rocked the Petropavlosk. She had been hit by a torpedo fired by the CL Takasago. She fell out of line burning and turned away.
The Tsesarvitch turned north toward the satey of PA. However, she was damaged as her speed was estimated at 10 kn. I knew she was mine. I placed my BB's between her and PA. I sent the heroic 3rd Div back home as they were quite damanged and low on ammo. Remember, they had already made the voyage with the transports and then the naval battle. They deserved their rest. we chased the remaining BB and she was scoring on my Flagship the HIJMS Asahi. My ship was on fire! The Tsesarvitch was subdued by accurate main caliber fire from the HIJMS Hatuse. My third BB the HIJMS Fuji was busy firing at the DD's that were escorting. She sank 2 out of 3.
We then turned to home. After such a long chase and battle, my ships and men were weary. It is with great sadness I must report the Flagship was lost that day. The HIJMS Asahi lost her battle with the flames and she was adandoned. However, she was the only ship lost. My beloved 3rd Div made it back, though damaged. In the end we lost 1 BB and the Russians lost 2 BB and 2 DD. A victory I'd say.
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Post by neospapa on Jan 25, 2014 11:26:23 GMT -6
My gallant cruisers of the 3rd Div are banged up for sure. This is the repair times for all.
HIJMS Kasagi 8 weeks. HIJMS Chitose 8 weeks. HIJMS Yoshino 10 weeks. HIJMS Takasago 6 weeks.
The crews get a much deserved rest.
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