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You glance at the tactical plot - and see Naresuan is flagrantly disobeying orders; turning eastward to link up with Sendai and Jintsuu, who've just come into visual range of the fray. You cede to the inevitable - they're determined to fight their ships to the last, at least while there's friendlies on the field. You switch frequencies. “Hate, you hear me?”

“HELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Hate damn near yodels into his radio, his voice quavering like he's riding a school bus hitting bumps. “HOLY SHIT SKIPPER DID YOU SEE-”

“I did,” you confirm as the ops personnel kindly redirect a camera to find Hate's PT squadron; the full-sized boats weaving and winding as their triple aero engines scream through the mist and smoke, circling Naka and Harder like wary dogs. The abyssal cruisers are lost somewhere beneath a thick smokescreen they've been laying for long minutes now - you suspect they deployed smoke floats at some point. It's fairly opaque even to infa-red; but it seems what's left of them have decided to turtle.

The Indonesian F-16 pilots are still making their runs, their FACs screaming in almost suicidally low as pom-pom's probe for them amidst the nasty black puffs of flak bursts. They're firing phosphorus rockets, nailing their targets directly from almost point-blank range before screaming overhead and climbing away on full afterburner, the shock-diamonds in their exhaust vivid against the dark sky. The strike craft, their Kedge's spent, are circling overhead.

The tactical plot updates - new little blue circles.

“Who's that?” you demand.

“Malaysian Hawks,” Ops replies. “They're slinging iron bombs.”

[ ] Clear a path north for their retreat.
[ ] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

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First for

>>45968578
>[ ] Clear a path north for their retreat.

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>>45968578
>[x] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.
The battleship is the biggest threat.

Ssssssssssip.

First.

>>45968669
>filename

That's not how that goes you nasty man jesus lern2weeb omfg

>>45968578
>[ ] Clear a path north for their retreat.

>>45968578
>[X] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

>>45968578
>[ ] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.
Everyone else is bugging out. We don't need to clear the way; we need to kill that traitor.

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>>45968695
>not realizing Tatsuta "missed" on purpose.

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>>45968578
>[ ] Clear a path north for their retreat.
THIS IS STARTING TO LOOK LIKE THE RETREAT AT KANEGAZAKI, FUCKDAMN.
Where is Hideyoshi when you need him.

>>45968578
>[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.

Let's not throw any more lives away.

>>45968685
And Hamp FAILED.

>>45968730

WE TALKED ABOUT THIS ANON

IF AN SM-6 "ACCIDENTALLY" HIT YOUR HOUSE THAT'D BE SWELL

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>>45968695
That's exactly how Tatsuta wanted it to go.

>>45968578
>[ ] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

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>>45968578
>[x] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.
one day we'll look back on this, jesus what a shitshow, but at least we killed that fuckass battleshit

>>45968578
>[ ] Clear a path north for their retreat.
Lekir and the missile boat still have their ordnance and should be able to at lesst slap at a fat slow target chasing them

>>45968578
Hmm. Are the bombs AP? I'd like to nail the battleship but plain he/frag bombs aren't going to cut it.

>>45968753
Hey planefag if Settle messes up dealing with his relationship with Arizona, do we get to see how... abyssmal the consequences are, pun intended, like literally?

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>>45968578
>[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.
DON'T GET COCKY, KID.

>>45968578
>[X] Clear a path north for their retreat.

>>45968785

Semi-AP iron bombs, yes~

>>45968578
[X] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

We kill it and this is over.

>>45968578
Also can we get a map update, I'm fuzzy on who's where.

>>45968578
>“HELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Hate damn near yodels into his radio, his voice quavering like he's riding a school bus hitting bumps. “HOLY SHIT SKIPPER DID YOU SEE-”
Seems the LANE CORPORA--I'm sorry, I mean lieutenant--is too busy to notice the carnage atm.

>>45968578
[X] Clear a path north for their retreat.

>>45968578
In the words of the fighting 69th

faugh a ballagh! Clear the way!

has everyone stocked up on reaction images for when planefag doesn't kill anyone?

>>45968578
>[ ] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

>>45968753
SM-6 CANNOT INTO SURFACE ATTACK

CARRIERS ARE OBSOLETE

MY SCENARIO STANDS

>>45968806
... I hate it when you use tildes. I can never be sure what you mean when you do that.

>>45968815
No. That is so fucking wrong this isn't a wow raid the other enemies won't just disappear

>>45968578
>[x] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

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>>45968817
closest I've got on hand

>>45968578
>[ ] Clear a path north for their retreat.

>>45968849
Thank you for pointing that out; if someone did that in SW89, the Kitty Hawk wouldn't have been sunk.

>>45968817
>Also can we get a map update, I'm fuzzy on who's where.

I'm deliberately omitting map updates now because the situation has become so fucked that not even Settle can really tell what's going on. Effectively, Naka and Harder are a few miles south of Sangiang island, retreating north at the speed of molasses (because lel towing), the abyssals exact positions are unknown but their cruisers don't seem to be giving chase anymore - suitable, because they got blasted pretty hard. Perth and Houston are likewise unaccounted for - you lost track of them after Naka broke formation to attack the abyssal cruiser line.

So now it's a question of taking a chance to put BB-4 on the bottom permanently, or guaranteeing a smooth extraction north.

>>45968818

More like "NO ONE KEEPS THE MARINE CLUED THE FUCK IN ON THE STATUS OF THE REST OF THE FLEET SO EVEN THOUGH HE FEELS LIKE HE WAS A FUCKING ROCKSTAR, SHIT WENT FUCKING SOUR"

>>45968863

Also, this is roughly representative, yes

>>45968876
>mourning the shitty kitty

kek

>>45968845
>SM-6 CANNOT INTO SURFACE ATTACK

NOW THEY FRAKKING CAN, IT SEEMS

http://breakingdefense.com/2016/03/anti-aircraft-missile-sinks-ship-navy-sm-6/

BUT I DIGRESS

>>45968817
>I'm fuzzy on who's where.

YASEN SHIYO YASEN SHIYO

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>>45968910
>Perth and Houston are likewise unaccounted for
Oh Lawdy

>>45968578
[x] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

If the Iowa is taken out, it'll take a lot of the pressure off our forces and maybe let us recover/rescue the torp trollops and the chuuni's a bit faster.

>>45968910
If that is the case, as hard as it is to say given how fond of the characters I am, we need to take down BB-4. As Sun Tzu warned, you can't get too attached to your troops.

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>>45968849
>No. That is so fucking wrong this isn't a wow raid the other enemies won't just disappear
Can't emphasize this enough.

Being vengeful is dumb. We'll have another chance at BB-4. Lets save our own people first.

>>45968942
What's up with all these Flipfags turning up?

>>45968849
I was actually making a oblique reference to Dark Crusade and thought that writing it all in Caps would be obnoxious.

>>45968578
>[ ] Clear a path north for their retreat.

>>45968972
unlike china, we don't have reserves, we lose a shipgirl we can't get another.

That and unlike back then, too much tossing the men under the bus for success and they'll do that to you to survive.

>>45969011
So we're fighting an industrial age enemy with an information age military right? In that case, yeah, get everyone to safety. Look how well that turned out with the Chuunibotes.

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>>45968564
>>45968578
>[X] Find that FUCKING battleship and send her ASS down to Davy Jones' Locker.

Those two cruisers are our new nemeses, we don't need our old one no more.

>>45968910
>>45968578
Eff. I want to sink Iowa and there's some good arguments for it... But no, we can't take the risk...

Unless... Wait.

The Abyssals are MASTERS at punishing us for predictable, safe strategies. They could be counting on our retreat!

No, they don't have anything in that direction. Fuck. Dammit, clear the way. I wanna save the Chuuniboats and Naka as much as anyone, but they need a way out as much as guns on their side!

>[o] Clear a path north for their retreat.

>>45968910
>>45968578
Fair enough. SNAFU night battle is SNAFU.

[ ] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

I don't dare let that bb start bombarding the coastal cities after we clear out, assuming naka and harder can even stay away from it.

>>45968578
>[ ] Clear a path north for their retreat.

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The soon to be drunk one arrives.
Jim Bean, Sake, and Woodford reserve.
The Bean was all consumed in the last half hour and I haven't eaten yet. Bad life decisions indeed

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>>45968977
A good deal of Flips have been following this quest since day one, mate.

>>45969109
And Here. We. Go.

>>45969071
As Essex found out, they can pop shit in from nowhere.

I don't want to sail right into an angry submarine.

Last thread people were wondering who the final boss was? On a different track, I still think the first abyssals were the plague ships of the Plague of Justinian, given their description.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwXAGiIVsgQ

3:47

>>45969109
why would you subject yourself to JB white?

>>45968578
>[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.
When in doubt, evacing the wounded is always a good idea.

>>45969124
What's the appeal to Flips?

>>45969109
Sadly no Hayashimo to be drinking buddy

>>45968578
>[ ] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

REMOVE ABYSSAL

>>45968578
Faugh a ballagh! Clear the way!

>>45969186
Well, one thing is probably seeing the Navy's Del Pilar class tangoing with the Abyssals and pulling Naka out of the drink.

Also a good deal of Flips love naval warfare in general.

Found this interesting, maybe you will too.
The 11 of March was the launch date of CL Tenryu.

http://youtu.be/O8uxobO3FCM
>>45969109
I'm gonna need some of that, sir.

>>45968578
>[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.

>>45969221
>Also a good deal of Flips love naval warfare in general.

Never heard of this happening. Care to explain how'd it come to be instead of MUH CARS OR MUH NONEXISTENT AIRFARCE?

>>45969180
We had it, so I decided to dispose of it.

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>>45969109
>Sake and Bourbon in one drinking session

>>45968968
>>45968972
This probably isn't the best time to have this discussion, but what the hell.

My thinking on the matter is as follows: we don't know what kind of numbers the Abyssals have, but it's almost certainly more than we have. And as time goes on the ratio will probably widen in their favor, if the increasing operational complexity they've displayed is any indication. And if the healing factor we've seen in shipgirls also applies to Abyssals, they can maintain a tempo that will wear down conventional forces. So any loss we suffer is more costly than it would be for the Abyssals.

We're basically in the same position Japan was in WWII, facing an enemy that we can't beat through attrition, and will only grow stronger with time. That argues in favor of playing very conservatively with our forces.

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>People seriously focusing on BB-4 instead of ensuring Harder and Naka escape.

Are you guys serious? After all the shipping and enthusiasm over those two and you want to risk them now?

>>45968578
[ ] Clear a path north for their retreat.

>>45969260
He's exaggerating. Though it probably has something to do with the huge number of merchant mariners in flipland.

>>45968578
>[X] Clear a path north for their retreat.

Naka's birthday, if we're going by date of completion, is November 30, 1925. Hibiki's birthday is March 30, 1933.

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>>45969301
Not to mention getting out while the getting is good is just good sense.

We'll have another shot at BB-4, and probably a better one as we get better with dealing with the Abyssals over time.

>[X] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

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rip in piss tenryu-class
brought knives to a gunfight

Last question I promise, how fast is bb4 moving? Does she have a chance of catching us on the way out?

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>>45968942
>filename
>mfw that's my language

It's more like "well, shit" but yeah.

>>45969262
Fair nuff, your sacrifice will not be forgotten

>>45968578
>[x] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.

>>45969301
Situation is FUBAR, we are in serious danger of being overrun.

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>>45968578
[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.

It's about time we pic related our damaged forces.

>>45969282
Save that or when Planefag does that.

>>45969290
Agreed, we really have to be careful as I don't think they have things like morale/etc to worry about.

>>45969301
Such people likely don't care about them, instad seeking glory.

>>45968578
>[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.

SAVE THEM

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>>45969301
If we don't sink her, do you know what's right up the coast on the other side of the strait?

Fucking JAKARTA.

>captcha is rivers again
>I see that shit there captcha

>>45969328
Atago is 84 on March 30, Haruna and Kirishima turn 101 on April 19, Taiho turned 72 on March 7, flight deck chest turns 82 on the 31st, and Kaga turns 88 on the 31st.

>>45968578
>[ X ] Find that fucking battleship - and sink it.
Great job kid, now let's blow this thing so we can go home.

>>45969365
>Situation is FUBAR, we are in serious danger of being overrun.

No. See Planefag's post:

>So now it's a question of taking a chance to put BB-4 on the bottom permanently, or guaranteeing a smooth extraction north.

>>45969262
GIVE THIS MAN A PURPLE HEART, PLEASE.

>>45969349
>Filename
Gunsights, set!
Boilers, ACCELARATION!
IT'S TIME TO D-D-D-DUEL!!!

>[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.

>>45969148
Fair point, but I still think we need to fall back. If only the order will be followed...

>>45969349
Please still be alive
Please still be alive
Please still be alive...
And not abyssal

>>45969365
All the more reason to haul ass now, while we still can. At the very least, we need to keep an escape open, even if we don't use it just yet.

>>45968743
Going to arrive too late to stop Mitsuhide.

>>45969290
While true, there's the consideration that BB-4 and the rest of the Abyssal invasion fleet can now regroup and continue to their original target.
We may have reduced the numbers of the troop transports, but it may not have been enough to force them to abort their mission.

Now, that aside, how fast is BB-4 moving?
Because even if a path north is cleared, if Naka and Harder aren't faster than BB-4, she'll just catch up to them anyway and take them out.

>>45969328
planefag no finish off month by killing Hibiki plz
How the fuck do you say Bep-

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[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.

Is there another bird pass available for the BB-4 or those are the last shots?

>>45969409
Good thing too, could've been something important.

How fucked is the coast if BB-4 goes in? If she commits, can we get another load of bombs to sling in her face before cities start exploding? I think yes, so let's take these cruisers up on their offer.

[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.

You know, actually sinking something significant might actually help with global moral. Sacrifices are sometimes necessary.

>>45969301
We can't retreat from the strait while the invasion fleet is intact. Stopping it permanatly is the entire reason we are here.

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>>45969476
Finish off Bep, end her sorrow.

>>45969468
That was Honno-ji, mate, not Kanegasaki.

It was the Azai-Asakura tag team that rekt Oda's troops at Kanegasaki.

>>45968578
>Desdiv6 when casualty lists reported.png

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>>45969502
We're only clearing a retreat for Naka and Harder.

>>45969484
>important
>capital of Indonesia

Top percentage of keks, both in the internet and Jaffa sense

>>45969502
I think most of them are running hence the retreat on our end.

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>>45969398
things are so fucked up in this battle that i don't trust either option

>>45969502
We don't have enough firepower at this point to stop the invasion anymore. So getting our ships out is the best idea.

Plus, dawn should break soon, which should allow for more conventional strikes by the other militaries involved.

I-19 turns 75 on April 28, and Harder is 74 on December 2. Shigure turns 80 on September 7

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>>45969461
>still having hope

>>45969502
>Stopping it permanatly is the entire reason we are here.
Do we even have the assets to sink the invasion fleet?
The Abyssals still have BB-4, two or three cruisers, and the transport ships.
We have two busted up conventional ships with a few anti-ship missiles and a single gun between them, four unaccounted for shipgirls (two destroyers and two cruisers who are out of ammo), air assets are spent except for 1 more force with iron bombs, and Naka and Harder can no longer fight.

>>45968578
>[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.

I wonder, how much guilt will Arashi have if we meet her. After all, she technically single handedly lost the war for the Japanese when they did because she led the dive bombers to the Kido Butai at Midway.

Kongou is an old granny battlecruiser, 18 May something or other

VOTES CALLED

>>45969559
Hope counts for a lot in this quest, otherwise things would have gone to hell really fast among the readers.

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REMINDER THAT WARS ARE WON BY COMPLETING OBJECTIVES AND PREVENTING THE ENEMY FROM COMPLETING THEIRS

WARS ARE NOT WON BY KILLING AS MUCH SHIT AS YOU CAN IN A SINGLE BATTLE

KNOW THE DIFFERENCE, IT COULD SAVE YOUR WAIFU

>>45969595
Tenryuu was 5 years younger than Kongou.

>>45969532
If I'm reading >>45969532 correctly, clearing a path north would leave BB-4 inbetween us and the invasion fleet.

>>45969595
She was launched May 18, 1912. Kongou was "born" if by born we mean completed on August 16, 1913.

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>>45969605

>>45969583
Regarding our planes
>are you capable of forward propulsion
>yes
>then you're not unarmed

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>>45968910
>but their cruisers don't seem to be giving chase anymore

>>45969637
*reading >>45968863 correctly

BB-4 would chase us off and sit inbetween us and the invasion fleet, which may have regrouped by then.

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>>45969649
>exact opposite of "shut it down"

KAK

>>45969650
While I find lawn darting as funny as the next guy, there's a reason the retarded Japanese tactics didn't do anything to turn the tide in WWII

>>45969650
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkNxFNI7IHs
BTFO Kamikazefag

>>45969621
Tenryuu, completed November 20, 1919, sank December 18, 1943 by Albacore. Reborn xx, xx, 2017 Sank xx, xx, 2018

>>45969650
You do realize kamikaze planes only sink ships because they are loaded with explosives.

>>45969620
Problem is, we haven't stopped the enemy yet.
They can still hammer the coast, especially Jakarta.
They still have landing craft.

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>>45969684
HAI!

>>45968564
>The bottom is shallow in the Strait and fairly gradual - if Steadfast can reach the sand, she can be repaired and refloated with little trouble at a later date.
Hey PF: ships have been shot to hell, sunk, refloated, and repaired many times in the past. Has anyone done that with a shipgirl (or admitted having done so)?

>>45969650
The capability to scatter yourself across the enemy's decks doesn't count as being armed.

>>45969714
And we don't have the firepower to stop them at this point, so getting everyone out is our best option.

>>45969714
We'll have to accept that possibility.

Sure, optimally we would have destroyed all transports, but you can't always 100% an entire enemy fleet. Instead what we did was significantly weakened it and made any eventually attack much more vulnerable to coastal defenses.

>>45969605
Oh fuck, here we go..!

>>45969714
We've done significant damage to their forces. The shore defenses and Indonesian Army are enough to make them re-consider their landing.

Come to that, do we even know what the fuck their marines ARE? Did we ever get a report back from Iwo Jima?

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>>45969650
Anon, this is whats gonna happen when an unarmed plane hits an armored ship.
And this one was modified to blow up when it hits something.

>>45969685
>>45969697
So aim for the gun batteries. Mission kill her so that Hate can finish her off.

>>45969761
Apparently Viking raiders, considering the presence of longboats.

>>45969559
HOPE RIDES ALLLLOONNNNEEEEE!

>>45969684
Haha!

>>45969771
Guns are the most heavily armored bit on those ships, they like their boomsticks functional

>>45969620
We have not compeleted any of our objectives. The invasion fleet is reatively intact and has unimpeded access to the strait.

>>45969756
This. The thing is, we aren't retreating because our forces are damaged. We're retreating cause we're our of ammo.

>>45969761
Danes or other Viking age scandinavians.

>>45969765
>side impact
>top down 90 degree WITNESS ME at sanic

Hmm...

>>45969802
Our objective was to ambush the transport fleet. We did that with Light Cruisers. Good job, let's go home.

>>45969461
>alive
chunky salsa rule
sorry bro

>>45969786
>>45969806
Ragnar Lothbrok?

>>45969771
You can't do jack shit to an armored turret with a paper-thin plane like a Hawk or Viper, bruh.

>>45968910
Where're the new girls that showed up in January and at the start of the battle?

>>45969806
>>45969786
I seriously doubt it's that simple. Beards, bearded axes and beardy attitudes aren't going to worry anyone behind a machine gun and entrenched position.

I don't want to guess too much. It might give planefag ideas.

I'm still holding out hope for fairy USMC though, or Imperial Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces. Tiny little people with serious expressions and tiny machine guns, bazookas, anti-tank rifles and mortars are the coolest thing ever.

>>45969759
>much more vulnerable to coastal defenses.
But if BB-4 remains able to move and fire, she and the cruisers can take out coastal defenses so that the transports can land.
The coastal defenses here likely don't have anything that can penetrate BB-4's armor, after the Leveling Effect.

>>45969859
Perth and Houston ARE our new girls.
Unless you're talking about Essex, who's still in Iwo.

>>45969863
Leveling effect, those two magical words. If it was devastating then, it's devastating now.

>>45969859
>Wanting Essex, a memeshitboat.
Seriously kill yourself.

>>45969836
So battleships can shrug off supersonic impacts?

>>45969863
>I seriously doubt it's that simple. Beards, bearded axes and beardy attitudes aren't going to worry anyone behind a machine gun and entrenched position.
Knowing the abyssals, it isn't going to be vikings. It's going to be necromorphs.

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RIP IN PISS CHUUNI BOATS

>>45969908
Because I'm curious, if she is the weapon to surpass the Dess, is she going to surpass the Dess in being Admiral-sexual?

>>45969915
>implying AP shells aren't supersonic

>>45969915
>implying battleship shells aren't supersonic impacts already

>>45969908
But she has a great design!

>>45969895
So they can chop through tank armour or move like the wind? We still have range and besides, the Vikings were mostly effective against unprepared, soft targets. The number of times they went up against a hard target or equal force and won can't be more than a handful.

>>45969915
"Whether the stone hits the glass, or the glass hits the stone, it ain't gonna hurt the stone."

>>45969915
Yes, when the impactor is an aluminium shell wrapped around some aviation fuel. The faster you're going, the closer you get to a Newtonian Impact, where all you care about is the length of the projectile and the relative densities of impactor and impact surface. And steel armour plate is a HELL of a lot denser than any modern jet fighter.

>>45969915
Yes, they can.

Also, good luck trying to steer a fighter into a relatively small target like a BB turret in supersonic speeds.

>>45969915
Frankly? Yeah.
If AP rounds can overpenetrate and do minimal to no damage at times, a supersonic hit from a plane THAT WAS NEVER DESIGNED TO KILL BY CRASHING is nothing.

>>45969895
So Hypothetical Ragnar and his merry men are highly bullet-resistant, like 40k Space Marines?

>>45969915
Bullets are supersonic. I doubt you are going to find a rifle that can sink a battleship. The Yams-gun excluded.

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>>45969930
CHUUNI ABYSSALS WHEN?

>>45969915
Yes, because battleship guns fire shells at supersonic speed.

>>45969984
Apparently. That's the problem with Bullshit handwaves. They fall apart even worse the more scrutiny you put them under.

>>45969956
>>45969940
>Hurr durr muh designs, muh weapons, muh waifu.

All she did was spount fucking memes at us and told us to go fuck ourselves when we tried to rope her into this war, then pussied the fuck out and ran screaming to us because the mean-ole abyssals scared her. Worthless fucking memeboat that is probably going to do even less than the now dead Chunnibotes, good fucking riddance btw.

>>45969908
A memeboat that has enough firepower to turn the tide of battle.

>>45969989
If the Yams gun could be aimed worth a damn on a pitching and rolling sea.

>>45970031
Nothing more fucking range time won't fucking fix

>>45969989
Speaking of, is that thing hitting like an 18-incher? I must have missed that...

>>45970009
There's a point where you have to give up trying to apply logic and science to it. It's magic and mystical stuff that follows the rules of PLOT and while that makes it SUPREMELY frustrating to account for, it starts to make a bit more sense like that.

Think of the Abyssals as the fucking Unseelie and you're close, I'd say...

>>45970009

It makes perfect sense when you consider what kind of awful abominations would come out of an abyssal longboat.

>>45970020
I don't like Essex, in point of fact, I agree with everyone who says she is annoying and easily hated. However, there is such a thing as character development, and she sincerely is packing some serious firepower. If only she wasn't so stupid.

>>45970020
Okay, anon, please point to us where the bad chuuni touched you.

>>45970020
>Not liking memeboat
Why do you hate 'Murika?

>>45970053
Soon, Lieutenant. Soon.

And then... Glory.

>>45970059
It does. You just have to hit things with ballistics that are slightly screwy.

>>45970053
And how are you going to train for dealing with three dimensional movement?

>>45969964
No.
Worse.

They're the dead of Niflheim, a cold, dark world where those that did not die in battle or with honor are sent. Those that die in sickness, show unwarranted cowardice, or generally everything that's not 'die with honor'.

Warriors that have been blue-balled for centuries.

They may or may not have Nordic mythological abilities as well.

>>45970030
Whom is a lose cannon ready to do whatever she want until she cant handle it anymore and then demands we help her after she oh so politely told us to go suck a dick.

All she is is an operational risk whom is likely to get her comrades killed because, HURR DURR MUH MEMES horseshit. Should be scraped at the nearest opportunity. Or better yet forced abyssal so she can fuck up the enemy more than us.

Worthless meme boat.

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>>45968863
>People saving my maps and using them for reference
This makes me so happy

Essex is a very important part of the cast, believe it or not. Her and Sammy are the only characters on base without the sympathy or common sense to keep the tone somber because of all the deaths occuring.

You'll be thankful she's around once we end this engagement.

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>>45970127
Anon, step away from the edge.

>>45970059
>unseelie
Can't be, then all we'd have to do is shoot wrought iron at them and they'd run away.
Or submerge them in salt.

>>45970127
Personally speaking, I'm hoping she might, MIGHT, be able to redeem herself through character development by representing the better aspects of our country, becoming an America the beautiful instead of an America the boorish, but that's a tall fucking order.

>>45970073
>bad chuuni
This is a war you idiot, not a waifu simulator, we are not Young, we do not go around curing the waifus of all their problems with the power of our dick.

>>45970077
>memeboat that told an American admiral to go fuck himself upon trying to integrate her into the fleet.
Not very patriotic is she?

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>>45969930

>>45970127
She was messing up all of the close air support calls that the landing forces were making at Iwo, wasn't she? Having her planes get in the way of the planes trying to do CAS?
Didn't she also end up having her planes strafe some of the JSDF positions, or am I remembering wrong?

How many men did she get killed?

>>45970163
Also, she's a cold war carrier.

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>>45970190

>>45970212
>>45970190
>tfw Clownpiece is the Fire Control Fairy on Iowa

>>45970198
>She was messing up all of the close air support calls that the landing forces were making at Iwo, wasn't she? Having her planes get in the way of the planes trying to do CAS?
No
>Didn't she also end up having her planes strafe some of the JSDF positions, or am I remembering wrong?
You remember wrong. Her enthusiasm was curbed quickly enough.
>>45969502
You're absolutely right anon. Destroying the invasion fleet completely is obviously our only objective, so we should piss away our forces by leaving them encircled and cut off.

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>>45970120
mother fucking

tactical
bouncy
castle

>>45969771
That is a massive waste of precious assets.

>[x] Clear a path north for their retreat.

Can we have the remaining missiles aboard the missile boats and Lekir be fired at BB-4? With BB-4 lit up like a bonfire, now seems like the best time to use them.

>>45970198
PF never said, but yeah she did do all of those things and THEN decided that the big scary things bleed St Elmo's fire were too scawy to take on and DEMANDED we help her after she did all of that.

Memeboat a fucking worthless shit.

>>45970251
Yeah and then we have her effects on things outside the story; we lost some good stories as a result.

>>45970243
You know, for a moment I thought that was an M8 Scott on that bouncy castle.

>>45970243
Okay that takes care of the pitching, what about the rolling?

>>45970177
>submerge them in salt
You heard the man, everyone!

Planefag! Unleash the kraken/waifu!

>>45970122
a) Stop giving the zeppelinqueer ideas

b) They could just as easily not be vikings at all. As far as I know, the only clue we have that they're longboats is the drumming, unless I blinked and missed it?

Maybe they're the spirits of the dead and the damned from WW2 or ignoble sinkings that were were covered up for fear of an international incident? Maybe they're war criminals straight from hell? We don't know and I'm not looking forward to finding out.

>>45970299
Navy and his ilk were WAYYYYY too big for their britches by that point. The shit fit they threw about PF giving Essex the personality of a MURICA FUCK YEAR!!! retard only proved that. Im not sad that they are gone, even if i do miss the naziboats story a little.

>>45970243
Uh, you do realize that firing that weapon off in there is a bad idea right?

Hey, Hate!
Get Naka - or maybe Maya - to take you waterskiing sometime instead.
Hell, why not get Yamato's help?

>>45970299
We lost those stories because the authors seem to be entitled crybabies who didn't bother to even talk with PF about their concerns before stamping out like little brats.

>>45970351
Maybe they're the war criminals that went free for the Nazis and Japan got enshrined at Yasakuni? It would be interesting to see the sins of the past coming back to haunt the unrepentant.

>>45970120

Enlist fucking help. There's gotta be at least one or two motherfuckers with gofast boats that are up to fuckin help out, and I can always lay in a tug to tow a target barge for fuckin 'battleship gunnery practice' and shanghai a bint for cover. Kirishima, maybe, she's fuckin cute.

>>45970351
>As far as I know, the only clue we have that they're longboats is the drumming, unless I blinked and missed it?
When they were getting torpedoes Goto and Settle caught glimpses of them, and commented on the fact that fucking longboats were getting torpedoed.

>>45970122
Don't forget that the dead of Niflheim will come to Ragnarok onboard Naglfar, a haunted ship made of the finger- and toenails of the dead.

I see no Naglfar shipslut. We're safe.

>>45970383
We told Houston to knock it off and GUESS WHAT SHE DID IMMEDIATLEY?!?!?!?! SHE FUCKING LISTENED TO US AND PROCEEDED TO BE A BRO INSTEAD OF FUCKING BEING A RETARDED BITCH!!

>>45970383
They promptly stopped after being told to knock it off. Essex continued to launch planes whilly-nilly, getting in the way of everyone else and strafing the wrong positions, even AFTER being told to knock it off.

>Houston fires at Naka, who put her ass in the fire to lay smoke for her, then continues shittalking after being informed of her allegiance.

>Gets one-quarter of the shit for it because she isn't lolsillyrandum

Favoritism at work.

>>45970366
>Get Naka - or maybe Maya - to take you waterskiing sometime instead.
Fuck that, I'm not gonna make a move on Yamato's girl. And no, that's not because I'm a shipping fag like you little shits.

I've got money on them making out before the end of the year.

>>45970351
STILL FUCKING SALTY

Confirmed to have the appearance of longboats, right before KTKM sent a fucktonne of them to the bottom.
Not turtle ships, to my chagrin.

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>>45970361
>>45970368
Things were a bit more complicated than that.

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Please admit you lost this battle and go home.

>>45970435
>continues shittalking after being informed of her allegiance

You are a lying retard. Get out and take your memeboat waifu with you.

>>45970120
>>45970337
>>45970366
Why not train kind of like how cavalry used to? Stick Hate in the back of the most busted-ass truck on the base and drive by targets, over deliberately rough ground?

>>45970395
Jesus, that's bad.

Oh god, what if they're the dead from the plague ships? Or the slaves from the Atlantic trade who were thrown overboard?

...We should stop before Planefag notices and starts taking notes.

>>45970444
Let's just be happy that it wasn't turtleships, otherwise we might've seen a worse engagement.

>>45970242
>You're absolutely right anon. Destroying the invasion fleet completely is obviously our only objective, so we should piss away our forces by leaving them encircled and cut off.

Because this might be our last chance to hit the fleet without having to fight through Iowa first.

>>45970401
Why not get Yamato's help? She knows the weapon better than you do.

As for the tugboat... well, there is a certain ensign on base, right?

>>45970361
>>45970368
The other way around is perfectly believable. Trust me, he's prone to doing stuff without much real announcement.

And no amount of white knighting is going to get Planefag to turn your OC into a shipgirl.

Not to say you two are without point, but as far as I'm concerned, no one's innocent.

>>45970475
Incoming hate in 3...2...1...

>>45970472
I wager what Deme has planned is far worse than we can imagine.

And if it wasn't, he already added the best of our ideas to it.

>>45970383
Houston wasn't given shit for it because she didn't know, woke up in the middle of a fucking massive NIGHT BATTLE (as in, can't see shit or who is who), and literally died fighting Japanese ships in this very spot--also at night. She also stopped the moment Settle told her to.

False equivocation is stupid.

>>45970401
Go hit up the USCG's HITRON guys. Precision marksmanship against boats with large-caliber rifles from a moving platform is kinda their thing.

>>45970472
>Stick Hate in the back of the most busted-ass truck
>mfw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg_mZv_SdZw

FFS, Planefag writes even slower than I do

>>45970440
>Yamato's girl

Say what? Hate, there something you ain't tellin us?

Condolences for your loss, though are we still on for later re: tabletop?

>>45970510
If it's the plagueship dead, we need to get every carrier who ever scrambled a napalm bomber in Vietnam back, because the only way to deal with fucking Nurgle's Rot is lots and LOTS of fire.

>>45970475
In all seriousness, I agree with you given the Levelling Effect, but pretty much everyone else here is adamantly determined to hate the Turtle Ships and Panokseon.

>>45970497
>our last chance to hit the fleet
With fucking what? Tenryuu and Tatsuta are down for the count. KTKM and Ooi are also out of contact. Steadfast and Naresuan are heavily amaged and could maybe sink a few transports if they made a break for it. Sendai and Jintsuu are undamaged but down to guns only. Naka and Harder and Houston and Perth are all fucked up. Lekir and her Spica still have their wads, but they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. The planes and those handful of missiles are our only real striking power right now.

>>45970552
Writing a detailed description of the Iowa being destroyed in a nuclear fireball takes time

>>45970552
Oh, you must be new here.

>>45970570
Or the Treasure Ships for that matter.

>>45970498

The problem with getting Yams to help is if someone recognizes her. It's fucking bullshit, but it is what it fucking is. I have to fight like a sonofabitch just to get her fucking range time in the down hours when we're pretty sure all the fuckers with cameras aren't trying to sneak pics of the girls. And Yes, I know that's my fucking job, but look, there's a lot of fucking water out there and camera lenses are fucking good these days, aight?

>>45970475
Actually, torps should still fuck up turtle ships, due to them having no analogue for that time period.

Guns = cannons
Missiles/bombs = arrows
Torps = the fuck?

>>45970499
I'm not white knighting PF, i have no desire for more waifus in this quest REALLY hoping both the Chuuniboats bit it right there, teach the rest of the Jap ships a VERY important lesson. From what i saw it was Navy and his ilk throwing a shit-fit. I cannot see into the LEL SCRET writefag chat room so i don't know exactly what was said.

>>45970569
So they're the ships from the Plague of Justinian carrying an even more virulent and antibiotics resistant strain of the bubonic plague? With hundreds of these ships washing up on coasts all around the world killing a quarter of the population?

>>45970410
Could have been sunk by KTKM and Ooi earlier though, while all the pragmatic warriors jumped ship to the standard longboats...

>>45970611
What lesson is that? Following the Order of the commanding admiral to withdraw will get you killed.
If so yes they will learn that well.

>Oh my god it's the plague it's gonna kill us all
Guys, I'm pretty sure that between the fact that they're literally longboats and the fact that planefag used the fucking 'war of the vikings' soundtrack for their rowing cadence, they're just fucking vikings

>>45970573
Well then we've lost. Rearming our ships will take up time we don't have. It's hard to look at this asanything other thana strategic defeat.

>>45970410
VERTICAL DRED FTW

>>45970660
Well, abyssalized vikings.

>>45970659
How about not charging in when no one has fucking told you to, forcing your commanders to change their plans, THEN berserking straight into a fucking airstrike is actually a BAD idea.

>>45970660
Maybe not here, but that's certainly a possibility for them to do.

>>45970609
Ramming, probably. That was a danger for most ships.

>>45970659
>Following the Order of the commanding admiral to withdraw will get you killed.
She didn't withdraw as ordered, though.

>>45970609
If that was how it worked, then we'd never see shit like Abyssal WW2 and interwar-era destroyers shooting down multiple fucking supersonic missiles mid-flight with their AA guns. And yet, we've seen just that.

>>45970659
Can't forget that that order to withdraw came after she disregarded an order to shadow them at a safe distance and wait.
>>45970681
Unless the invasion fleet is similarly beaten the fuck up, which seems likely. Seriously, people assuming that the invasion fleet is just fine after it ate 80 torpedoes is just silly. Is it a flawless victory of course not, but it's way too fucking soon to call it a complete defeat. Right now it's just the time to call it in either direction and pull the fuck back.

>>45970611
>From what i saw it was Navy and his ilk throwing a shit-fit.

Navy just had a disagreement with Planefag because he ultimately got turned off by his salt-based writing style. Essex was just what lit the powder keg.

Also, don't base it off the namefag posts in the previous threads. It's already been established it was a troll posing as him.

What were our odds on this in the first place? What decisions could we have made to win a sound strategic victory against this many ships on such short notice?

Would Yamato and Arizona have done better here?

>>45970681
>Strategic defeat
I'd say more of a tactical stalemate, really. We kind of messed up their landing force fairly well, and we did shake their escorts around, after all.

>>45970738
Like i said i dont have access to the writefag chatrooms so i dont really know anything. Im just posting with what i saw.

>>45970601
Naka, then.

Or dress Yamato up in MURICAN clothes, give her a balaclava to wear, and generally make her look like one of those tacticool range jocks I see every time I go to the local shooting gallery.

The ones that fire five dollar bills down range.
You know what I mean.

>>45970747
>Would Yamato and Arizona have done better here?
No, the straits are shallow, they would have been sitting ducks.

>>45970601
...have you considered getting her a lucha libre mask? There are plenty of masked Japanese wrestlers whose masks are sold as merchandise. Would completely hide her face.

>>45970747
You can't just deploy Yams without thinking about the political repercussions involved.

>>45970784

Yeah, but then, see, the problem fucking becomes "WHO IS NEW BASE HOTTIE SEEN WITH AMERICAN MARINE ON RANGE? LETS ALL FIND THE FUCK OUT" and it becomes a NEVER ENDING FUCKING PROBLEM.

>>45970727
Yes, she DID. She bitched about it, but she did. The only thing she didn't do was fire all of her torpedoes as she turned and withrew, but Tatsuta did fire hers. And given how Tenryuu made a close-range torpedo run and the cruisers maneuvered impossibly well to dodge them even THEN, it wouldn't have made a difference.

Tenryuu turned around to charge the cruisers because Tatsuta had been knocked out by fire even while retreating under smoke, and the only way to save her was to charge the enemy cruisers and draw their fire. Otherwise, trying to set up a crawl-pace tow whilst already zeroed by enemy fire is suicide.

>>45970747
Nope. They'd have been Torpedo Bait in these straits.

>>45970747
>Would Yamato and Arizona have done better here?
I've said it in previous threads, but I don't think so. A battleship would have been able to bottle up the invasion fleet but its escorts would have had to either completely abandon Houston and Perth or leave the BB open to getting absolutely swarmed by the fleet's escorts. We were barely able to have bodies present for every fight in this battle as it is.

And, you know, sometimes a major strategic victory just isn't possible with what you have. I think if we can eke out a crippling of the invasion fleet for follow-up attacks and extract most of our forces, we'll have done good.

>>45970735
Missiles = kamikazes.

>>45970784
I highly doubt that we could hide Yamato by simply disguising her. Her gun armament is unique to her class and in order to use it she has to summon her rig, which itself is also unique.

Wasn't this supposed to be a secret land invasion where they reveal NEW ABYSSAL LAND TECH while they still have initiative from Bonin? If they invade Jakarta with their forces depleted like this they'll give away all their capabilities only to be crushed after taking a single objective on what was intended to be a massive campaign.

If BB-4 sticks around to shell after being crippeld by torps, we can hunt her down easily later. They hve to retreat.

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>>45970552
there's a lot of things that can slow a writer down
the battlefield looks like a box of spilled legos
also he's not boatfag so he has to double check facts all the time
and then there's the tarpit of finding just the right image

>>45970833
But missles are effective

>>45970832
I think we've managed a decent strategic victory and a solid tactical victory.

>>45970833
Missiles are smaller and don't have pilots.

>>45970552
I don't mind it in this case, because I fucking love the sprawling clusterfuck of a battle here being somewhat consistent.
>>45970875
Maybe. We'll have to see how the abyssals react once we've managed to disentangle.

>>45970817
Body armor, Marine. Thick ass body armor so goddam thick that you can't tell for certain whether or not it's a man, woman, or a robot next to you.

AKA Go steal shit from EOD.

>>45970860
This honestly. They have lost their surprise factor utterly, they have to think that we have more shit incoming like right now and we have alerted everyone in the general vicinity of the continent of ASIA that they can do this. They probably need to flee.

>>45970737
>>45970755
The invasion fleet is not retreating. We are. They have achieved their strategic objective of passing through the strait, we have failed to achieve ours of either preventing their passage or crippling their fleet enough to prevent a landing. Unless the invasion fleet is more damaged than we are aware off, this appears a major defeat.

>>45970819
Seriously though, what is up with those cruisers? Did we ever positively identify them as Russian?

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You eye the situation - and make the call. You don't know how badly wounded that predread is, but you know Hate put at least two torpedoes into her - it might not sink her, but it ought to slow her down a lot, and she wasn't fast to begin with. The smoke and chaos work as much in your favor as hers; even with the abysmally low speed Naka is making with wounded Harder in tow, they have a good chance of clearing the area before Iowa can pull within effective gun range. With visibility so bad, she can do little more than waste 12 inch ammo and pray for a lucky hit.

The numerous escorts, corvettes, destroyers and kaibokans in the abyssal landing fleet, however, are another matter.

>>45970875
As the old saying goes, "Nothing except a battle lost can be half as melancholy as a battle won." Duke of Wellington.

Also, "There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell." William Tecumseh Sherman.

>>45970858
She's teaching Hate how to fire his rifle (top kek), not shooting off salvos (with her full rigging) herself.

>>45970930
>They have achieved their strategic objective of passing through the strait
Incorrect, they're regrouping while still inside the strait. Steadfast and Naresuan and Jintsuu and Naka still hold the mouth of the strait. They might make a run for it, but they haven't yet.

>>45970930
No i can see where you are coming from. However think on this. The "surpise we rape all of Indonesia" factor is gone. They have to know that the entire country is now on high Alert with war prep being underway.

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You espy the survivors of Kasturi's squadron mingling with the PT boats; the Spica gunboats circling and darting just as aggressively as their predecessors. Lekir and her lone Spica are somewhere in the midst of the Abyssal fleet - you've lost track of them; they've turned off all their radios and are sneaking through the carnage as quietly as possible. You still can't see where Perth and Houston have gone, they've stopped responding to hails, and now you're pulling your last supporting assets from the area, and committing your meager reserve of air-power. You lost them somewhere in the smoke and mist after Naka launched her sole torpedo attack.

You've done everything you can - used every asset as efficiently as possible. Now all you can do is pray.

Test

>>45970737
Ooi and Kitakami were fully engaged Tenryuu made a tactical decision that Settle didn't contramand to go give aid to them.

>>45970870
>>45970893
In terms of analogues, chucklefucks.

>>45970930
I wouldn't call damaging and slowing down a fleet that previously couldn't even be detected a failure. Besides as long as they are held back or slowed down air power can keep making runs at them.

>>45970953
I think the bookspergs over on SB have figured it to be the old german ones that an anon guessed when they first appeared whose names I cannot remember.

>>45971005
You failed. Also, fucking food captchas making me hungry.

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The Malaysian Hawks are small aircraft, but fast and nimble. They overfly the area once, standing on their wingtips as they study the landscape ten-thousand feet below. You see them fly off over Java, then circle back slowly.

“Sir, the squadron leader says he can't guarantee the effectiveness of a dive-bombing attack,” someone in ops passes along. “The smoke is too high and thick, and the enemy's maneuvering to hide under it. If they can't see wakes they can't lead their movements.”

The Malaysian fighters drop towards the surface of the Strait, slipping into the wind-churned layer of mist shielding their foes. The infa-red blazes as they hit full throttle. The squadron indicators on the tactical plot vanish as each individual plane is rendered instead; little numbers indicating the telemetry link's strength and the readouts of their radar altimeters. They're carrying a pair of 2,000 pound bombs each and a centerline gun pod, and from the way they're flying they intend to score with them. Some of the targets are still marked, brilliantly burning white phosphorus guiding the pilots through the smoke, but others are invisible till they open fire, their light guns winking like fireflies in the dark. The Hawks quaver side to side, pilots leaning on their rudders hard, but not bothering with stronger evasives - with such poor visibility, it's simply a matter of luck and lead quotient, and everyone knows it. Flak bursts begin to bloom just over the mist, the Hawks trailing faint wide wakes as their engine's thunder ripples against the sea, chased by scattered white splashes as missed shells arc into the water. The fighters diverge as they approach; squadron and section leader's orders untranslated, but their tone unmistakable - they're picking targets and pairing off to attack.

>>45971005
<<No joy>>

>>45971026
Blucher?

>>45971016
IN TERMS OF ANALOGUES, mate, there were already anti-ship missiles back in ww2. Ever heard of Fritz X?

>>45971003
SPRAY AND PRAY

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As they close on the final stretch the mist seems to come alive with hissing, sizzling tracers of every sort - you catch a glimpse of a fighting top peeking through the smoke, a nordenfelt gun blazing away at the incoming fighters. The Hawk's belly pods wink as they return fire, 30mm Aden gunpods lofting HE shells downrange to silence the AA guns. There's a bright flash, then a long trailing plume of fire stretching across the ocean as the remnants of a Hawk are smeared over the strait. The survivors keep stomping their rudders, walking cannon fire over their targets till they pull up sharply, the little planes peeling off the deck and arching away into vertical climbs. Their bombs are mere flicks of shadow in the smoke, brief suggestions of white, foamy spray indicating where they're skipping and bouncing off the still water - and then there's only the blasts, titanic reports that dispel the smoke in concussion waves to reveal the bright pyres of dying ships, sundered in twain and sinking. The Hawks roll out and reform as the Indonesian F-16s come daring back in, their 20mms twinkling on their own strafing runs.

>>45968564
[x] Tenryuu and Tatsuta are now chrysalids

Someone please archive the thread(s) tonight for me, I'm rather sick and can't do it myself, thanks!

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“Admiral so-and-so, are you there?” The voice is husky, but somehow melodic.

“Houston?”

“And my little friend,” she confirms. “Ah just shook that un-holy wide-assed whore, but I'd love to know how we're leaving this party.”

“North!” you instruct. “We've cleared a path with airstrikes - any ship swinging anything bigger than three-inch is a hulk now.” You sincerely hope. “What's your best speed?”

“We can still make twenty knots.”

“That'll do - we put a few torpedoes into that battleship, she won't be able to catch you.”

“Ah sincerely hope,” she replies, sending a chill spreading through your gut. You pick up the two cruisers on the plot a few seconds later - their radios have been roughly triangulated, and the Global Hawks have gained a tentative fix on them as wounded ships sail northward out of the battle area, heading for the thinner, uncontaminated fog north of Sangiang island, where the shore isn't shadowing the night breeze blowing from the East.

>>45970930
False, their first run on the strait failed from the torpedo strike, they were forced to pull back and regroup.

The issue is that if they have enough forces left to make another run, if they make another run on the strait again they'll most likely make it through, but at this point the element of surprise is lost and it'll be day light soon.

Spooky voodoo does not count on optic camo

>>45971073
How to archive?

>>45971071
Original X-Com, XCOM, or XCOM 2?

>>45971062
>There's a bright flash, then a long trailing plume of fire stretching across the ocean as the remnants of a Hawk are smeared over the strait
Witnessed.

>>45971026
Alright, thanks. I'll go take a peek at SB.

>>45971062
>a long trailing plume of fire stretching across the ocean as the remnants of a Hawk are smeared over the strait
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuaQflZr3Fo

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“There,” Goto says, pointing. You take a second to register it - you haven't heard his voice in what feels like weeks. The quiet, knowing syllables almost feel alien in your ears.

“Pardon?”

“There,” he says, flicking his own laser pointer at one of the Hawk 'cams. “That silhouette. It's not a cruiser.”

Ops personnel are already refocusing the feed, flipping through filters - and abruptly, from the smears and suggestions of shape and shadow emerges the silhouette of a predreadnaught battleship, twin turrets and squat, powerful looking superstructure. She's giving chase.

“Hail Lekir. Hail them now!” you reply. “Tell them we NEED a reply!”

A second later Lekir appears on the tactical plot, nearing the north-east edge of the ever-growing uncertainty circle encompassing everywhere the vessels of the abyssal invasion fleet *could* be if they're still afloat and sailing; an unknown that only grows with time. Your telemetry link is back - if only because they're communicating via secure satcomm on directional radios aimed at the MILSTAR satellites in geosynch orbit. “Admiral?”

“Lekir, we've got a target for you. Abyssal battleship, only seven or eight miles off your bow.”

“Are you sure? These are the last few missiles in the fleet, and at this range-”

“What are your chances of closing for a closer shot, at this point?”

>>45971119
MEDIOCRE

>getting shot down by a fucking Nordenfelt 1-incher

kek

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A moment of silence. Another. “We've been ducking into smoke or behind burning wrecks to get this far - nothing's spotted us or taken a swipe yet.”

But they're still in the middle of the enemy, as you can see yourself - if they go full throttle to the rescue, that could change in a hurry.

“If you want us to, we'll try,” the skipper says after a moment. “Give the order.”

You eye the plot again, weighting factors. Harder could still have a hull patch fail, or the FFGs forced to beach due to a failed pump. It's not enough to outrun BB-4; you need that persistent bastard to *retreat.*

[ ] Launch from where you are - we only need to keep that bitch too busy dodging attacks to make best speed in a chase.
[ ] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.

>>45971130
Hoo boy, moment of truth

>>45971157
>[ ] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.

Hail-mary time.

>>45971157
>[ ] Launch from where you are - we only need to keep that bitch too busy dodging attacks to make best speed in a chase.

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>>45971157
>[ ] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.
YOU PARTY RIGHT NOW.

>>45971157
>[ ] Launch from where you are - we only need to keep that bitch too busy dodging attacks to make best speed in a chase.

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>>45971157
>[x] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.

>>45971157
>[x] Launch from where you are - we only need to keep that bitch too busy dodging attacks to make best speed in a chase.

>>45971157
>[X] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.

>>45971157
>>[ ] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.

>>45971157
>[ ] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.
If they launch from the middle of the abyssal fleet they'll be spotted anyway. Could they try making their way closer at their current sneaky speed? It's still gonna take time for Iowa to catch up

>>45971157
[X] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.

KILLITKILLITKILLIT

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>>45971157
>[ ] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.
Go boom or go home.

>>45971157
>[ ] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.

>>45971157
>[ ] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.
Nevermind the fact that it's one life against hundreds, shipgirls are way more important than real people, right?

>>45971156

inorite

odd guns, aren't they?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzRQDZtYszE

>>45971026
>>45971049
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

>>45971157
>[ ] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.

>>45971157
[x] Make full throttle - if that goddamned thing manages to keep pace, or even one of our vessels takes on too much water and slows, we'll finally be brought to bay and smashed to pieces if we defend the straggler - or be forced to abandon them to their fate.

>>45971157
[ ] Launch from where you are - we only need to keep that bitch too busy dodging attacks to make best speed in a chase.
Here is what is playing in the background

>>45971157
>[x] Launch from where you are - we only need to keep that bitch too busy dodging attacks to make best speed in a chase.

If the Iowa can hit the Lekir before it can get a shot off we are all royally fucked

>>45971157
Could we divert a few of the planes to make some safe-but-distracting runs on the other edges of the invasion fleet to improve Lekir's chances?