Bring me the head of Diego Garcia...and the Mayor of Addu Atoll too!

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: sprior

I had some Jehovah's Witnesses at my door. Does that count?

Maybe - if they were visibly carrying weapons...

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: sprior

lots of fighters, preferably something made in England.

I can get some Hurricanes from India, I think it's going to be quiet there. If we do that though then aircover for the '43 reconquest of Burma will be a bit thin. But! I have 3 squadrons of P-somethings in Calcutta too that can cover the retaking of our imperial posessions.

Watch out, Cap'n! Next thing you know, they'll be basing the dreaded P-somethings out of East Coast US or Winnipeg to 'cover the retaking' of their erstwhile Imperial posessions. [:-]

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: sprior

lots of fighters, preferably something made in England.

I can get some Hurricanes from India, I think it's going to be quiet there. If we do that though then aircover for the '43 reconquest of Burma will be a bit thin. But! I have 3 squadrons of P-somethings in Calcutta too that can cover the retaking of our imperial posessions.

Watch out, Cap'n! Next thing you know, they'll be basing the dreaded P-somethings out of East Coast US or Winnipeg to 'cover the retaking' of their erstwhile Imperial posessions. [:-]

They can take their pick from among a fine selection of previously owned P-26's

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: sprior

lots of fighters, preferably something made in England.

I can get some Hurricanes from India, I think it's going to be quiet there. If we do that though then aircover for the '43 reconquest of Burma will be a bit thin. But! I have 3 squadrons of P-somethings in Calcutta too that can cover the retaking of our imperial posessions.

That is what I was thinking, Hurricanes. Here is the problem with the P-somethings....there aren't any in the cupboard. We lost 21 P-39's just yesterday and most of the squadrons are understrength already. I we land at Wyndham, the wee Jap dobbers will throw wave after wave of Zeroes (and Tojos now too) at us. We will need 50+ operational fighters over the field to make the sweeps painful for them...and we will need good pilots too. We can shuttle in new squadrons from Tenant Creek but we need an airframe with deep reserves. We can throw some Kittyhawks into the fray but they don't fare very well.

[Cap Mandrake]

OK..just checked. The Hurricane IIb can make 8 hexes on transfer without drop tanks so they would have to stage from Daly Waters because I don't think we could get enough supplies into Tennant to use drop tanks.

Your idea that India will be quiet seems right. I don't think they have the offfensive reach now with the carrier losses they have expereinced. I'd say bring all the Hurris you have and leave the P-somethings and crappy Mohawks in India....and bring their air HQ too.

[Cap Mandrake]

Oh...we used to DREAM of having replacement aircraft. [:D][:D]

Bring 5 squadrons. [:D]

[Cap Mandrake]

..and Hermes and Formidable and a couple of BB's to bombard Broome and Port Headland.....and some replacement RN carrier fighters for the squadron that got left behind on New Scotland. [;)]

Repulse left San Diego 3 d ago.

[Cap Mandrake]

...

[Chickenboy]

How close are you to 'closing the deal' on Fiji? 
 
Liquidating the LYBs that are already ashore should be high on your priority list.  Thereafter, IJ attempts at sweeping or naval interdiction will be that much more pointless for him.  Maybe then he'll leave you alone for a bit to recuperate.  First, you've got to remove the temptation in place to rescue the IJ infantry by grinding them into wasabi paste.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

How close are you to 'closing the deal' on Fiji?

Liquidating the LYBs that are already ashore should be high on your priority list. Thereafter, IJ attempts at sweeping or naval interdiction will be that much more pointless for him. Maybe then he'll leave you alone for a bit to recuperate. First, you've got to remove the temptation in place to rescue the IJ infantry by grinding them into wasabi paste.

The Wee Jab Dobbers at Suva are getting ready for the condiment tray. The boys at Nadi are stronger and have some serious arty so I haven't started to attack there yet other than a few naval bombardments and B-26 raids.

I moved the demoralized F4F's and the B-17's out of Suva. There are only 5 P-39's for CAP, so all the shipping had to go except for 2 damaged subs and an AK left behind as a target drone. I hope the Jap carriers don't move East of Fiji or we could lose a BB or two.

There are a ton of SBD's and TBF sittiing in New Zealand than can get to Suva if there were only fighters to cover them. In 2 or 3 d there should be.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: sprior

I had some Jehovah's Witnesses at my door. Does that count?

One of my neighbors has this sign at the end of his driveway:



It stems from an incident where he was in his yard, naked and playing his harmonica when some Jehovah's Witnesses pulled up... [:D]

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: sprior

I had some Jehovah's Witnesses at my door. Does that count?

One of my neighbors has this sign at the end of his driveway:



It stems from an incident where he was in his yard, naked and playing his harmonica when some Jehovah's Witnesses pulled up... [:D]

[:D] And the architecture...is it by any chance neuveau tar paper shack?

[sprior]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Oh...we used to DREAM of having replacement aircraft. [:D][:D]

Bring 5 squadrons. [:D]

Yep, we have a fair few squadrons sat around doing the square root of shag-all. Time to get them busy me thinks.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

[:D] And the architecture...is it by any chance neuveau tar paper shack?

[:D] It looks like they re-used a realtor's sign. The post is for a chain that they can put across the driveway. Personally I would have Rustoleum'ed the post and spray painted the sign before putting on the letters, but then I have no artistic side.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

[:D] And the architecture...is it by any chance neuveau tar paper shack?

[:D] It looks like they re-used a realtor's sign. The post is for a chain that they can put across the driveway. Personally I would have Rustoleum'ed the post and spray painted the sign before putting on the letters, but then I have no artistic side.

To be fair, some of the finest estates in the US have a rusty chain across the gravel driveway to keep out Jehova's Witnesses and Federal Revenue Agents.

[Cap Mandrake]

**************What Would a Weasel Need?**************


1. Ground Troops
A. Wyndham
....Two well-prepped divisions and a Corps HQ for Wyndham (Aus I Corps)
....Combat Engr Bn.
....1-2 Bn Ary
....1-2 Bn Armor for assault and to open track to Daly, pursuit, etc. (these might be able to drive up from Daly)
....MINIMUM 150 (preferably 200) Aviation support points in 2nd wave of landing
....Naval Support unit to ease unloading of engineers once base is secured
....At least one EAB or construction Bn to repair the airfield if it is damaged in the attack.
....1-2 CD units than can get ashore quickly in 2nd wave.
....1-2 AA units.
....Air HQ

B. Port Headland
....Perhaps one division. A brigade might do based on intel.
....AA unit
....1 CD unit (optional)
....Combat engineer (desireable but may not be necessary based on intel)
....60 Aviation support.

2. Air Units

A. Wyndham
....5 squadrons Hurricanes (fly in from Daly if we own it otherwise they would have to brought in on carriers and flown off).
....2 Sqdrn P-39 for sweep attack over Darwin (in Oz)
....1 Sqdrn Beaufighters for naval attack escorts (in Oz)
....3 Sqdrn Medium bombers (B-26/B-25) for airfield attacks on Darwin. (in Oz)
....1 Sqdrn of Beauforts
....Cats

B. Port Headland
....Cats (or Hudsons)
....2 Sqdrn B-17 to supress Broome airfield
....1 Sqdrn Kittyhawk

3. Naval Units
....4 USN CV's with 3000+ pt AAA support per TF
....3 RN CV's with 2000+ AAA support per TF
....USS Long Island and HMS Hermes for ASW support and possible ferry duty..
....Fast BB TF to cover Wyndham landing (Repulse and South Dakota..these could be detached from the AAA suites of the carrier TF's if needed)
....Cruiser-based security force for Port Headland
....Two BB bomardment groups with 21Kt BB's (2-3 USN, 2 RN). These could be employed to destroy Broome airfield and then safely get back to Perth.
....An AE for Wyndham, Carnaton and Port Headland.
....Flotilla PT boats for Wyndham with AVG
....2 18 Kt fleet oiler TF's and 1-2 13 Kt Oiler groups
....Enough 16+ Kt AP's and AK's to embark all of I Aus Corps at 1/3 load AND carry the 2nd wave for Wyndham (1 CA or CL in each amphibious TF).
....Slower AP's for Port Headland force could be used.
....Sub screen (>10 boats)
....14 kt AK's with > 60,000 supply for Wyndham
....14 kt TK's with 5,000 fule for Wyndham
....>20,000 supply for Port Headland

Nice things to have....Level 2 airfield at Carnaton and Tennant. Paratroops and C-47's for possible exploitation from Wyndham.[;)]

[Chickenboy]

Nice OOB, Cap'n.

Don't forget some NCB engineers and air ground personnel for that dot hex South of Port Headland. With y'all's ability to build airfields quickly, having another supportive AF size 6 nearby can only be a good thing.

[sprior]

**************What Would a Weasel Need?**************

Okay, if we adopt a quiet Burma we can do this. 2nd UK Div is arriving at Aden, they can be tasked to Weasel. We also have 254th and 255th Armoured Brigades available.

I Aus Corps has arty and engineering assets included, they are on the transports en route to Perth.

I can supply the Hurris and Beaus.

My TRs are busy supplying China now the hump is open again.

That's a start.

[sprior]

As far as I'm concerned this whole game pivots on capturing the Marianas so we can put the Japanese homeland in B29 range. To do that we have to take the Marshalls.

After the Marianas we can do the Palau and Peleliu from Guam and use them to jump into the PI. Everything we're doing now should be aimed at chewing up JJs forces to make the above easier.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: sprior

As far as I'm concerned this whole game pivots on capturing the Marianas so we can put the Japanese homeland in B29 range. To do that we have to take the Marshalls.

After the Marianas we can do the Palau and Peleliu from Guam and use them to jump into the PI. Everything we're doing now should be aimed at chewing up JJs forces to make the above easier.

Indeed, threatening the homeland with heavies is our goal (and or cutting off oil fromt he DEI). The thing is, I've never been in a WITP game where the Japanese navy and air force wasn't utterly destroyed BEFORE a B-29 rolled off the assembly line. In fact, I have never been able to use a P-51 or a Corsair either. Killing massive numbers of over-extended Jap troops sends everyone looking for their sepuku instruction manuals.