Invigorating for sure!. My 2x2 partner, Ken (aka Nomad) remarked it got down to -45 F a few weeks ago - ambient temp not wind chill. One day when I was stilling doing farm work I got to experience the "invigorating" experience of working outside at -30F. Lets just say you knew you were alive - because of the searing pain from every breath you took. Just made me wonder why our ancestors made the concious decision to settle in northern climbs when they could have made their home in warmer regions
Where is he? It gets that cold up north in places like Tower, MN, but here in the metro a -30 night is pretty rare. At -30 you for sure you know you have nose hairs. Like a little symphony as they freeze and unfreeze with every breathing cycle.
Ken lives in WY - when men are men, women are women and sheep are scared
"We have met the enemy and they are ours" - Commodore O.H. Perry
Ken lives in WY - when men are men, women are women and sheep are scared
It's been a cold winter out west. My dad lives near Bozeman, and it's been badder than normal.
Still, many days either Tower or Embarass, MN (don't know the number of esses; don't speakie the Froggie) is the coldest place in the USA, and sometimes North America. Either usually is colder than the old stand-by, International Falls. They have a weird geographic depression that takes garden-variety arctic air and pools it at the bottom of the depression like oil. It's a weirdly funny past-time here on the local weather TV as the two "metroplexes" broadcast their claims, hammer nails with bananas, and blow "ice bubbles" from soapy water.
The best the local weatherguessers can usually do is the old "throw a cup of hot water in the air and make it snow" trick. Even the fried-egg-Frisbee is better IMO.
I'd normally insert the joke about our 70 degree winter days here (most of December and early January was 70), but the last few weeks even Texas has been cold. Messed up that little football game in Dallas, I hear.
I'd normally insert the joke about our 70 degree winter days here (most of December and early January was 70), but the last few weeks even Texas has been cold. Messed up that little football game in Dallas, I hear.
I have a friend who owns a house in Taos and she says that the whole town has literally been without natural gas for a week and won't see any for a few days. She says the pipes are just play empty. Says all those jerks (her words not mine) in Texas used it all up....
This is nuts, but I think I'm going to draw an inside straight...have my cake and eat it too...and have to fend off both Ginger and Mary Ann.
Wake Island Offense: The Allies were able to withdraw enough troops to bring the assaulting force under the garrison limit. The remaining troops (23rd Marines, 34th Combat Engineers, 7th Marine CD, and an arty unit) have supply. In fact, I think I could have attacked this turn successfully, but was afraid to do so as I didn't realize the evacuation of the excess troops would proceed so quickly. The Allies have roughly 175 AV in pretty decent shape with more supply coming in. This force will shock attack tomorrow.
Wake Island Defense: The Japanese are still bombarding each day, but only hurting themselves. Yesterday, the garrison lost nine squads destroyed, so why Brad is still attacking eludes me. His troops - two naval guards, the Wake CD, and engineers, are badly disrupted, possibly low on suppy, and seem to have an adjusted AV of about zero. They are behind four forts. Unless Brad reinforces before tomorrow's attack, I think the Allies will take the base after one or two attacks.
What's Going On?: The commitment of any combat ships or carriers would have demolished the Allies shipping at Wake. The use of air transport to bring in reinforcements probably would have secured the island. But Brad did none of the things he should have done. The Allied invasion was a total FUBAR on D-Day - the kind of FUBAR that nearly always spirals out of control if the enemy makes the slightest effort to interfere. That Brad didn't make the effort suggests he either thought there was big danger at Wake or that he thought Wake was a diversion. He just installed some patrol aircraft at Marcus and caught wind of my last picket ship in the area, so that probably made him scratch his head too.
India: A very good day here, too. The Allies took Arsanol and Coconado. It's pretty clear now that Japan won't try to hold Calcutta. Madras is vacant and should fall as soon as I can get a unit there. Marine paratroops took an unoccupied Jaffna, a big airfield on the western tip of Ceylon (Brad built it big). So I'll air transport in a base force tomorrow and see if I can shut down commerce in and out of Trincomalee and Colombo. I suspect Brad is evacuating these two bases, but I won't know for sure until I can recon Colombo day after tomorrow.
Oz: I don't know if Brad is paying attention to the situation at Daly Waters. I'll know more in a day or two. Meanwhile, the Allied carriers are withdrawing from north of Auckland to Hobart to refuel. Then I'll make the decision about where to hide them.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
What's Going On?: That Brad didn't make the effort suggests he either thought there was big danger at Wake or that he thought Wake was a diversion. He just installed some patrol aircraft at Marcus and caught wind of my last picket ship in the area, so that probably made him scratch his head too.
Pardon my denseness here, but you mean he's not giving the game the attention it requires?
That's certainly a possibility, though I think he would concede pretty quickly once he realized he was making a mess of things.
That's what I'm suggesting, yes.
And would he? You know him better than most (any?) of us, but from his AAR, while he was doing it, I got the sense of a proud man who doesn't like to quit. OTOH, I know how easy it is to be drawn away from duty by a new, shiny thing.
Time will tell. Only you can determine if the game is giving you what you're looking for in return. I think, right now, the Japanese position is in tremendous shape, and the early, for-some-boring era is over. I think you could find a replacement Japanese player of some skill pretty easily. At least for some time to come.
What's Going On?: The commitment of any combat ships or carriers would have demolished the Allies shipping at Wake. The use of air transport to bring in reinforcements probably would have secured the island. But Brad did none of the things he should have done. The Allied invasion was a total FUBAR on D-Day - the kind of FUBAR that nearly always spirals out of control if the enemy makes the slightest effort to interfere. That Brad didn't make the effort suggests he either thought there was big danger at Wake or that he thought Wake was a diversion. He just installed some patrol aircraft at Marcus and caught wind of my last picket ship in the area, so that probably made him scratch his head too.
Or he is instituting a Japanese mini-Sir Robin and Wake doesn't meet his trip point to expose the KB/reinforce. I am sure there were times during the initial Japanese assault that he said to himself "Man, CR is just going to let me take ___?"
Or he was caught without air transports with the necessary range. Most of the Japanese air transports have pretty short legs and Wake isn't exactly next door to anywhere except the Marshalls. Reinforcing Wake at the expense of Kwajalein might not have been worth it.
Mike
When you shoot at a destroyer and miss, it's like hit'in a wildcat in the ass with a banjo.
It also might be a matter of KB's position. How certain were you of its location? Perhaps they are on the way, or perhaps they were far enough away that he is sending them at a leisurely pace with the reconquest force, or perhaps he held them to counter the 'main thrust' that this 'feint' is covering for.
You may recall that I sent my carriers to SoPac to cover a feint towards Noumea. The hope was that Brad would see what had eluded him so long (my carriers), react strongly, and send the KB south. That was meant to eliminate the threat of the KB to my Wake and Marcus invasion groups.
As best I can tell, he didn't send his carriers south. I had picket ships all around New Caledonia and the New Hebrides and never caught wind of the KB.
I still think Brad's carriers are in the Pacific - Truk, Kwajalein, and Rabaul would be high on my list. But there is a small chance he had them in the Bay of Bengal in case I tried to disrupt his evacuation from India.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
But there is a small chance he had them in the Bay of Bengal in case I tried to disrupt his evacuation from India.
I think there may be a good chance of this being true. I almost suggested you do that exact thing if your carriers were still at CT. I would almost say that Brad would have no choice but to keep his CV"s in the BoB area until the bulk of his troops were evacuated.
"We have met the enemy and they are ours" - Commodore O.H. Perry
And would he? You know him better than most (any?) of us, but from his AAR, while he was doing it, I got the sense of a proud man who doesn't like to quit. OTOH, I know how easy it is to be drawn away from duty by a new, shiny thing.
Time will tell. Only you can determine if the game is giving you what you're looking for in return. I think, right now, the Japanese position is in tremendous shape, and the early, for-some-boring era is over. I think you could find a replacement Japanese player of some skill pretty easily. At least for some time to come.
_____________________________
The Moose
Come on!
Aren't any of you guys married?
This is complete passive-aggressive behavior. You would not show him your carriers, now you can't see his! Nah-uh, he is just going to hide them to frustrate you.
Today I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat, do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. - Yasser Arafat Speech to UN General Assembly
What's Going On?: The commitment of any combat ships or carriers would have demolished the Allies shipping at Wake. The use of air transport to bring in reinforcements probably would have secured the island. But Brad did none of the things he should have done.
It occasionally takes a Japanese player a little time to make the transition from the offensive to the defensive mind-set. Q-Ball may not have fully realized that while he needs to pull out of India, there are still opportunities for attacks elsewhere, since it's only November '42. Or maybe he has already completely switched to defensive mode, and will only commit valuable units to vital areas.
Civil war? What does that mean? Is there any foreign war? Isn't every war fought between men, between brothers?
And would he? You know him better than most (any?) of us, but from his AAR, while he was doing it, I got the sense of a proud man who doesn't like to quit. OTOH, I know how easy it is to be drawn away from duty by a new, shiny thing.
Time will tell. Only you can determine if the game is giving you what you're looking for in return. I think, right now, the Japanese position is in tremendous shape, and the early, for-some-boring era is over. I think you could find a replacement Japanese player of some skill pretty easily. At least for some time to come.
_____________________________
The Moose
Come on!
Aren't any of you guys married?
This is complete passive-aggressive behavior. You would not show him your carriers, now you can't see his! Nah-uh, he is just going to hide them to frustrate you.
You mean 'passive-aggressive' like when you ask what's wrong and she says 'nothing'. Then she washes your white t-shirts with the red socks. On hot. Oopsey.
I think Brad decided to get revenge against me for hiding my carriers by hiding himself and declining to play the game.
I've often thought a Sir Robin-san on the part of the Japanese player could be in order in cases of extreme reluctance on the part of Allied players to commit to even token naval engagements. He didn't get a whiff of your fleet for so long there's absolutely no reason for him to show his until you put something more substantial on the line than sideshow invasions of Marcus or Wake. I think it's too bad Q-Ball has apparently lost interest in this matchup, but then again I'm not surprised. Maybe the lack of any substantial naval action to date just pushed him into a sense of apathy.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
It's weird. The Japanese are in good shape in this game, but so are the Allies. By the end of 1942, Brad will be no better off than are most Japanese players. He'll have Burma, NW Oz, and New Caledonia/New Hebrides, but there's nothing particularly remarkable about that. It's not bad, but it's not great either. On the other hand, he's lost six divisions, the Allied carrier fleet is fully intact, and the Allies are in better shape in the Pacific than they were in the war (having the entire Aleutian chain plus possibly Wake Island).
Our game is balanced and taut, so I don't think it drove him away. I think his absence is totally due to WitE.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
I think Brad decided to get revenge against me for hiding my carriers by hiding himself and declining to play the game.
I've often thought a Sir Robin-san on the part of the Japanese player could be in order in cases of extreme reluctance on the part of Allied players to commit to even token naval engagements. He didn't get a whiff of your fleet for so long there's absolutely no reason for him to show his until you put something more substantial on the line than sideshow invasions of Marcus or Wake. I think it's too bad Q-Ball has apparently lost interest in this matchup, but then again I'm not surprised. Maybe the lack of any substantial naval action to date just pushed him into a sense of apathy.
Could it ever be in order? I suppose. But this has been a hard fought game. One of my PBM's is in a similar state in early '44, and featured one of the biggest carrier losses the Allies ever took. The problem with what you propose is if it's taken to a point of 'if you don't fight on my terms I'm leaving'. I really don't think CR can be accused of not fighting here, and I know you are talking about naval battles. But, really, a Japanese player can force those battles if he is willing to fight on the Allied player's terms!
In other words, I think "could be in order" only applies in pretty extreme cases. Certainly not here.
I think Brad decided to get revenge against me for hiding my carriers by hiding himself and declining to play the game.
I've often thought a Sir Robin-san on the part of the Japanese player could be in order in cases of extreme reluctance on the part of Allied players to commit to even token naval engagements. He didn't get a whiff of your fleet for so long there's absolutely no reason for him to show his until you put something more substantial on the line than sideshow invasions of Marcus or Wake. I think it's too bad Q-Ball has apparently lost interest in this matchup, but then again I'm not surprised. Maybe the lack of any substantial naval action to date just pushed him into a sense of apathy.
Could it ever be in order? I suppose. But this has been a hard fought game. One of my PBM's is in a similar state in early '44, and featured one of the biggest carrier losses the Allies ever took. The problem with what you propose is if it's taken to a point of 'if you don't fight on my terms I'm leaving'. I really don't think CR can be accused of not fighting here, and I know you are talking about naval battles. But, really, a Japanese player can force those battles if he is willing to fight on the Allied player's terms!
In other words, I think "could be in order" only applies in pretty extreme cases. Certainly not here.
I should have expanded my thoughts to include I didn't think Canoerebel pulled a Sir Robin. It was the nature of Q-Ball's invasion of India that precipitated primarily a ground war and due to circumstances there was no need for Canoerebel to commit his CV's or major fleet assets. I agree, Japan's situation here is not bad and I truly don't understand Q-Ball's lack of commitment as there is much action yet to take place. I do think though that with the lack of naval engagements that made it easier for Q-Ball to zone out as it were and enjoy switching to WitE so much. Perhaps he just lost the fun factor. We have no idea what Q-Ball's thoughts are so this is all just conjecture anyway. I apologize for what seemed a critique of you Canoerebel, that was not the intention. I hope Brad will rekindle his interest and give you both the game you deserve. Who knows, maybe he's just playing possum!
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
