Yeah I've pretty much decided it: this time instead of Pearl we'll hit Manila Bay instead. No battleships there, but the AAA is almost nonexistent and the harbor has 27 submarines - thats over half the USN Pacific sub fleet! Also 4 Clemson destroyers, cruise and cargo ships(though mainly smaller ones), torpedo boats, 4 tankers and many xAKLs. About 100 ships in total. Elsewhere in northern(=Luzon) and central Philippines there are 1 big tankers and multiple xAKs and xAPs more, plus CA Houston and CL Boise(that are likely to just run for it). On Luzon and Mindanao in South the USAAF has approximately 90 fighters, half old and bad models and about half more decent P-40Bs. They also have some Catalinas and about B-17s.
IJNAF's G4M1s with their 8000kg AP port attack bombs can reach Manila from Formosa while G3Ms with their smaller bomb load supporting together with IJAAF's Ki-21s. Formosa's Zeros can support more... The logic here is that by attacking Manila we'll take out some long term resources from the enemy(the submarines are priority targets, followed by xAPs and tankers), while in short term the Kido Butai will be where the action is and ready to support landings in the Netherlands East Indies by, say, sweeping the Java Sea and killing everything in sight. IMHO far more productive than damaging a couple of old fuel hog battleships, that probably wont see action for the first year of the war any way, and destroying some old planes on the ground. Kido Butai + land based strikes from Formosa also means that we'll be able to fly almost double the sorties...
One of the con sides of this decision is that the Middle Pacific will be a free hunting area for the USN CVs for the first week or so. We will probably have to postpone invasions of Wake, New Britain, Papua and Solomons until the Kido Butai gets there. I've planned to position the replenishment force at or near Palaus so that KB can be refueled at the sea to save a couple of days... They'll have to go to the South Pacific without torpedoes but the sheer risk of KB presence should keep the enemy away. I'll just have to make sure that my opponent notices when and to which direction KB leaves.
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Topic: War in the Pacific PBEM AAR - sign up for Bay 12 fighter squad on page 31+! (Read 50486 times)