WesWorld

Quoted

Originally posted by HoOmAn
It seems as if in every story they are easily caught unprepared by superior numbers in favorable positions who easily dispatch any force.

- Ilo: Peruvians appear in superior numbers and in a favorable position and easily dispatch a Chilean destroyer squadron.
- Totugas Bay: Airplanes versus battleship.
- Gulf of Guayaquil: Both sides blunder around at night and get nothing done.
- Pisco Raid: Chileans attack a Peruvian port and sink three ships at anchor.
- Barranca: Somewhat valid criticism, but only just. The Chileans fumble a major opportunity and suffer more damage than the ships they ambushed. If the Atlanteans hadn't been present to continue the battle, then it would have been an overall loss. Even now, I count it as a draw.
- Pucusana Raid: The Chileans arrive in overwhelming force, get confused by a tiny minesweeper, blunder around at night, nearly torpedo one of their own, and run their flagship aground for a total loss. The Peruvians lose a single small supply ship.
- Islay: The Chileans finally manage to do something right and not fumble the ball.

I wrote my fleet almost constantly bungling good opportunities or in the case of Ilo, getting completely hammered by the Peruvians. I will admit, I wanted one "clean" battle for the Chileans to be proud of - a price, if you will, for all that earlier poor performance. That's the Battle of Islay. Even Islay is not a case of Chilean overwhelming superiority: it's five versus four, certainly; but the Peruvians have just as many guns and nearly as many torpedoes. The Peruvian ships are all faster and newer (although the Orellas have been recently rebuilt).

The Peruvians have every reason to be proud of their overall performance in this war. They had a lot of disadvantages in size, and still managed to come out with relatively minor losses and a few telling victories. The Chileans, on the other hand, are going to sit down after the war and seriously analyze what they did wrong. The Chilean Army never conducted a single operation against the enemy, and the FACh fought one air battle against one division of the Peruvian air force before they ran low on parts and fuel. The Navy fought more, but hardly earned a reputation for it.

I see. The mutiny and the blocked ships I´d also rate as lost "battles" as they add to the picture (although these scenes saved ships for a player later on).

Thanks for summing it up. Overall my impression is proofed wrong.

Quoted

Originally posted by HoOmAn
I see. The mutiny and the blocked ships I´d also rate as lost "battles" as they add to the picture (although these scenes saved ships for a player later on).

Thanks for summing it up. Overall my impression is proofed wrong.

I tried to be conspiciously fair, even complimentary, to the Peruvians in this war. There are a few cases where I was not, but I tried to balance those spots out with examples of Peruvian skill and professionalism, and also with cases where the Chileans performed poorly or moderately. The Grand Mutiny episode was, yes, a place where your criticism was just (and which I altered once I realized you were correct).

As to the way the Battle of Islay played out, I have to defend it by noting that there are dozens of period naval battles where one side didn't see the other until their ships started blowing up. I can cite them; but the best example, and the one closest to Islay in forces and outcome, would be Cape St. George.

Is the war still active?

Quoted

Originally posted by ALVAMA
Is the war still active?

I think Wes still has some stuff to post, and we need to negotiate the peace treaty. Aside from this, Chile's done.

Alex, if you would like to propose any stories or news pieces, PM Wes and I and we'll work it out.

Thank-you great friends!!!

What a great airbattle. The result could be expected but both sides offered their best.

I agree, great stuff indeed. Not too one sided and very well written.

I think we now have reasons to respect the Atlantean AF for the first time in WW. It's a potent force they've built up. Even had Peru had more modern fighters they would have been hard pushed to defeat the kind of numbers piled up against them.

It also helps that Colombia has pushed very hard to match the Peruvian airforce in terms of numbers and quality of aircraft.

So what is left of the Peruvian Airforce?

Well the conflict isn't quite over but I can tell you that the Do-217's from the Iquitos airfeild are untouched thus far. I'd have to check to see what planes have been distroyed by Chile.

Do-215s, not -217s. While Peru expressed interest in -217s, there aren't any yet for anyone to acquire, got to get the bugs out of the engines first.

Bah! A slip, as far as I know its listed as 215's in the story!