3 replies to this topic

[Aman]

finished the Battle for Tassafaronga, nice book, a must for any wargamer especially.

One thing that is obvious, is that the USN commanders didn't KNOW that their radar guided shooting was relatively ineffective when lots of rounds were flying to the target. Also, There was no communication btw ships RE: targeting during a battle.

Presently, the USN player can choose not to shoot at a target if the "Up 1" penalties will be too great. I think ships of a USN Division should all have to fire at the Acquired ship of an enemy Division until they Acquire other targets. This rule is for when a player commands a Division and is therefore not in control of the several other ships in his command.

[Kenneth D. Hall]

Interesting idea. I will have to try it one of these days. I didn't read the Tassafaronga book Aman cited, but I read vol. 5 of Morison this fall, and the idea generally tallies with what I read there. I need to think about it some more.

(Edited for greater clarity.)

[Cpt M]

Interesting idea. I will have to try it one of these days. I didn't read the Tassafaronga book Aman cited, but I read vol. 5 of Morison this fall, and the idea generally tallies with what I read there. I need to think about it some more.

(Edited for greater clarity.)

While this situation may apply to the earlier night battles, later in the war it would not. The USN was definitely learning night combat on the job, but by the later part of 1943, their radar and night fighting doctrine had matured sufficiently to make such a manadatory shooting rule moot.

[Aman]

reading more accounts / memoirs, including late '43 and ships using R+ like Fletcher class, and USN gunnery is still of the "pile on the shells and we're bound to hit something" theory, while IJN often reports amongst themselves how they often were unscathed by gunnery that was "close but no cigar".

One might classify a shooting element (ship or Division) as Green / Veteran and then use it or not, but it depends almost entirely on the skill of the radar team and ship CiC, so will vary widely.

As I'm now playing 1/700 with each player commanding just a ship or two, we'll be using it by ship allowing experienced ships to pick targets more carefully.