The Solomons Campaign 2017

[pierre the shy]

On to turn 5  - December 1942 and another potential night surface action in off Cape Esperance is first up this month - we will play this next out next Saturday.

Certain conditions need to be met for it to count as an engagement - visual sighting and 3 turns of combat or damage inflicted.

I know whats out there but you'll have to wait till next week to find out what happens   

 

[Dr Dave]

I'm wary of gaming WW2 Pacific naval due to the carrier dominance, but I find all of these reports gripping!

Thanks for keeping us informed.

[paulr]

The carrier actions can end up very one sided and don't make for the best games

There were plenty of surface actions, particularly at night, and these give very good games

[pierre the shy]

Did all the Turn 5 (December 1942) actions tonight:

Firstly we played out a very brief surface action, the USN patrol force with only one operational battleship took a cautious approach and retired without attempting to engage a Japanese supply mission after they sighted two Japanese Kongo class battlecruisers at long range. The Japanese fired once and attempted to close but the Americans turned away under cover of smoke and the action ended there.  

As Henderson Field was not bombarded however SBD's of the Cactus Air Force were able to launch attacks against the retiring Japanese transports, sinking the Kinryu Maru, two converted old destroyer transports and a escorting destroyer, much to the disgust of the Japanese commanders who question if the older GQ1/2 air rules really make the grade - we need to discuss this further as the TSC campaign we are using is actually written for the newer GQ3 rules which have a completely different set of air rules.

Despite the USN being able to deliver significant supplies to the Marines holding Guadacanal the Japanese final ground attack against the airfield was successful (they rolled a 1!!)



So Henderson Field has been retaken by the Japanese on the penultimate turn of the campaign.

that should make the last turn interesting          

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Last turn, throw in the Yamato!

[paulr]

It was important to limit supplies for the Japanese forces threatening Henderson Field but four months of fighting had left a number of ships damaged

As the US Patrol headed for Cape Esperance at least four large radar contacts were reported. The weather was clear and calm and the moon was still up

The two leading US destroyers sighted two of the large ships that their supporting ship had warned them of at 24,000 yards

Battleships Two Battleships

Huge columns of water leaped skyward around the lead destroyer as the Japanese ships opened fire

As the urgent report went out over the TBS radio the destroyers turned hard to starboard and retired behind smoke

The OOD thumbed through his ship identification book, they look to be Kongo class battlecruisers, still too big for us to handle

The remainder of the US force followed their orders and also withdrew, there was little chance of fighting through the Japanese ships to the supply ships



The US forces will now have to prepare to launch a last ditch counter attack to reclaim Henderson Field

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Ohhh you can hear the tension!

[Poggle]

Good grief! Henderson Field lost and all to play for. 

[paulr]

We completed the Solomons Campaign last night

The USN managed to deliver two supply missions without being engaged by the Japanese

This gave the Marines the best possible chance, in the final act of the campaign I needed 1-9 on a D12 to retake Henderson Field

...










I rolled





11



Pierre the Shy will calculate the losses on both sides and let us know the final result
I think the American might have just managed to eke out a draw

[Steve J]

The tension mounts...

[pierre the shy]

The tension mounts...

And we'll be back with the result, right after this short break........(the umpire needs his coffee first  )

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

 

[d_Guy]

Paul, I just want say that you have become my personal Rosetta Stone for emoticons. Thanks!

[pierre the shy]

Okay I hope you enjoyed the break.....maybe I drink a lot of coffee 

Including crippled ships the USN suffered 42 points of "ship victory points" - mainly from damage to Enterprise and Saratoga and North Carolina.

The IJN suffered 60 points of "ship victory points" - they had Junyo, Hiyo, Nachi, Haguro, Kinugasa, Kinryu Maru, P1, P2 and Kazekumo sunk. All Japanese damaged ships were able to return to the fleet for further operations after 1 or 2 months.

Under the victory conditions as the Japanese held on to Henderson Field that gave them a win, however as IJN losses exceed those of the USN the best they can achieve is a marginal victory.

This is modified again by the final tactical index being over +20, so there is one shift in favour of the Allies to a draw....maybe a winning draw to the Japanese since they hold the airfield (though this is not specified in the Victory Conditions).

I think that gives a fairly accurate result as things were very even right through the campaign.

Hope you all enjoyed following the campaign....it was a lot of fun to run it.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Sounds fair, thank you for all your hard work.

[Ithoriel]

Great campaign, lots of fun following it's progress.

[Steve J]

Excellent campaign which I enjoyed following, despite having virtually no interest in naval wargaming.

[paulr]

A fair result, thanks again for running a really enjoyable campaign which had a lot of twists and turns

Sorry Bigjackmac, I couldn't roll low enough for the Marines

[d_Guy]

Really well done campaign, gentlemen! Bravo! 

[bigjackmac]

Obviously this was the worst wargaming campaign I've ever seen.  I mean, absolutely ridiculous, ludicrous, and any other derogatory descptives I may come up with in the future.  But, despite the incredibly ahistorical and utterly unbelievable results associated with the ground portion of the campaign, it was a blast to read and follow.  It was truly inspiring, and I wish I could have personally taken part.  I appreciate all the hardwork it took to play and post for our enjoyment, thank you.

My parting words are thus: since this was a fictional campaign following historical events, it must have been that 1st MarDiv got tabbed for Nee Guinea and the Army's 32nd Infantry Division made the Solomons landings

Thanks again guys!

V/R,
Jack