Going After the WAF
My first piece of golden (heck, its platinum) advice is don’t. Save your ships and run for Batavia on Game turn 3 and Surabaya on Game turn 4. Join with the Americans and come in to your own (let us start that special relationship early on).
OK, OK; so you want to take on the WAF, you’re being very British, Singapore centric and all that stiff upper lip stuff. You should first take stock of what you have and it is not much. Assuming you are using the historical start with Force Z already on the bottom; you have:
CA HMS Exeter, three 8” D12, 2 triple TT & - search radar
CL HMS Danae, Dragon & Durban, three 6” D12 (no rapid fire) & 4 triple TT
DD HMS Jupiter, three 4.7” D12, 1 quintuplet TT & = search radar
DD HMS Electra, Encounter & Express, two 4.7” D12, 1 quad TT & = search radar
DD HMS Scout, Thanet, Stronghold & Tenedos, one 4” D12 & 1 4” D24, two double TT
DD HMAS Vampire, two 4” D12, 1 triple TT
Remember, 4” are ½ EDR against DD before you get excited about all those DD. You are not going to win a daylight engagement with this force. What you say? Well, compare. The four Mogamis alone have twenty 8” D12 and in a daylight engagement where you are going to set up at thirty thousand yards; well do I need to say more?
Anyhow you need to transfer HMAS Vampire on GT 1 to Darwin so the real power of the (soon to be called) ABDA, the ANZAC squadron can have a destroyer allowing it to sortie on GT 2. If your GT 1 theater event die roll is a 6 (1 chance in 12) then you get that transfer for free. You can then use your one CD to sortie a sweep. But I just said that you cannot win a daylight engagement. I did, so pray for a night engagement; it’s a long shot, but really you’re only shot.
You have radar; crummy radar, but radar none the less. So here is what you need to get you to launch point for a torpedo ambush. That’s right, you are trying to torpedo ambush the masters (at this point in the war) of torpedo combat. I’d wish you good luck, but that would be a nice try but no cigar. Nope, what you need is when any one looks up the definition of luck, they just get a picture of you rather than any text.
Why do I say that? Well (and here we go down deep hole), you need;
- First to avoid the Japanese LBA who have a 1-11 range (without modifiers) on a D12 of finding your sweep.
- A successful surface contact die roll of 1-6 on a D12
- A Watch die roll of 9-12 on a D12
- A 6-7 die roll result on a D12 S1 set up
- As dark a night as possible with visibility under 8,000 yards
- A Japanese acquisition die roll of 10 plus on a D12
- Your radar contact die roll of a 1-5 on a D12 to allow you to maneuver.
Got all that; great, now get in position, light them up with star shell and fire off all your torpedoes that bear hoping for a bunch of 1s on all those D12.
Now, hit or no hit, pop smoke and run! Don’t shoot; they’ll see you; just run. Or, take HMS Mauritius as a reinforcement on GT2 and transfer to Batavia everything on GT3. Wait, you got a 7 for your GT3 theater event along with HMS Emerald and her four quad TT and you are hot to try for another torpedo ambush. No problem, unless getting all those die rolls listed above in your favor is something you find daunting.
As for not taking Mauritius. HMS Mauritus has six 6” D12 (that can rapid fore), 2 triple TT & - search and FC radar. She happens to be the best cruiser available to your RN group and will probably pay dividends once you get to Surabaya. Take the sure thing rather than going for the low probability of another torpedo ambush.
So much for going after the WAF.
