Tokyo Rose was a Hussy! Chez (J) vs. Canoe (A)

[JohnDillworth]

American Carriers: Lex is NE of Dutch Harbor, inside a picket line, and bound for Kodiak, where she'll be joined by Saratoga. Enterprise is mulling around well to the south of Pearl, awaiting an AO TF before steaming for southern zones. My early plans for my carriers are to keep them separated and to look for opportunities to punish vulnerable IJ shipping in places where the KB aint. Saratoga will probably remain in the Aleutians to handle defense of that area until late winter. Lex may retire to Seattle or Alameda to repair the light damage incurred during her high-speed run. Ent may patrol somewhere not too far from the Baker Island/Tabituea/Ocean Island areas.

I like this strategy but if you face any warships at all your SBD's will be suppressed for a year. Maybe for the best. You will probably have enough by the time you are ready for the KB. One thing an opponent can count on with you. You will never do the same thing twice.

[bradfordkay]

"As for the dispersion of vulnerable merchant shipping, look at it this way. Japan knows exactly what's going to happen. Steve has had scattered two-DD TFs set to patrol picking off ships right and left."

Scattering the merchants is right in these circumstances. I do the same thing in the early days (though I should have waited until my minesweepers cleared the mouth of Manila Bay!). Steve had a couple of SCTFs waiting just SW of Bataan to destroy several of my escapees...  I just never thought of sending them towards the lair of the devils! (Japan).

[paullus99]

I agree, never do the same thing twice - but you need to be careful about confirming the location of the KB (though I bet, given what has happened thus far, he'll use it quite extensively in the DEI).

Advice on your Palembang defense - you are going to need to commit quite a number of front line fighters. The whole purpose here is to make your opponent bleed, and bleed for the longest possible time. Front-loading has its risks here, but if you go back to Nemo's AAR, you'll notice that he was able to put quite a number of aircraft into the area & rotate them effectively.

Although this might leave you a little weak in other locations, you can force your opponent to concentrate here - meaning less of a threat to other vital areas.

[Canoerebel]

12/13/42

The quietest day of the war except for one noisy disquieting explosion in the Pacific Ocean....

American Carriers: A wandering Japanese submarine found CV Enterprise far to the south of Hilo, where she was replenishing, and put two TT into her. I blanched, but upon checking the ship I learned that the extend of damage was five SYS, 30 FLT (23 major) with a top speed of 22 knots. I'll have to send her home and avoid more subs, which Steve will vector towards likely ports. Not sure yet whether she'll go to Pearl (least likely), Los Angeles, or Alameda. I also want to put Lex into the shipyards, briefly. She'll then take a patroling position somewhere in the South Seas. Saratoga will remain on duty in the Gulf Alaska, prepared to head to the Aleutians if needed and wanted.

DEI: It appears that the Singkawang invasion force is retiring. If so, Force Z bought the Allies some much-needed time. The Allied AV at Palembang is 131 and rising steadily. The Mini-KB took position near Morotai, probably hoping to pick off the Dutch ships that raided Babeldoab, but that TF safely arrived at Sorong.

Forlorn Hopes: CA Houston will make Attu Island in about two days. She'll be joined by a force of DDs. The combination will constitute my deterrent force in the Aleutians for awhile. I'm sending additional DDs that can act as Stingers.

Enemy Intentions: No question that the string of calamities that befell Japan in the opening six or eight days has prompted Steve to re-think his operations. I think the result will be better-covered ops that will be implemented on a somewhat more gradual basis. That's good news for the Allies.

[paullus99]

One of the disadvantages of having your carriers moving around at this point in the war - those pesky subs.....they can really hurt you, but glad to see it looks like the Big E will make port somewhere.

Good luck at Palembang - again, I recommend starting to consider what your air cover is going to look like (and hopefully you'll have the chance to bleed the KB if they get involved).

[Canoerebel]

Issuing Orders for the 14th:

Enterprise: The TF with damaged Enterprise will steam north toward Hilo following two ASW TFs. Damage is only 5/30, so I'm hoping the repair crews will shore things up so that Ent can continue to Los Angeles (I am choosing that shipyard, though smaller, as I think Steve will focus more on San Fran/Alameda). If there is any flooding concerns, though, I will divert to Pearl Harbor, which isn't far away.

Luzon: Steve landed a modest army at Iba, without any larger armies bearing down on Clark/Manila. With no real danger to Clark, I sent my garrison forward to Iba. As luck would have it, this army arrived the turn the Japanese attacked. I think the Japanese force, which consists of two infantry regiments and a hodge-podge of small stuff, is in bad shape. The Allied force is 800 AV, so I have high hopes of "molesting" the enemy here. I still own the hex, so there's little chance that I would be able to destroy the enemy before Steve sends in reinforcements. I "bought" two of the four B-17D groups and sent them to Soerabaja. The other two remain at Lingayen, where they've been ordered to bomb the enemy at Iba tomorrow.

DEI: I've ordered some RN ships from India (CA Hawkins and two CL) to make for the DEI. I'm not sure yet whether the Japanese are postponing the invasion of Singkawang. A four-DD Allied TF will visit the port tomorrow. I've transferred one AVG unit from Rangoon to Port Blair (it will continue on to the Palembang vicinity). I "bought" the second and it will follow suit.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

CA Houston will make Attu Island in about two days. She'll be joined by a force of DDs. The combination will constitute my deterrent force in the Aleutians for awhile. I'm sending additional DDs that can act as Stingers.

Wouldn't you have to TELL the Japs for the surface force to constitute a deterrent? How are they going to be deterred if they don't know it is there?[;)]*


*If you mean deter the Inuit then yes, their whaling boats would be no match.

[Canoerebel]

Ack! You're parsing words like a lawyer! Like an Arkansas lawyer being deposed about his shenanigans with young females!

Okay, not a deterent force, but rather a rapid reaction force intended to protect the ungarrisoned Aluetians from enemy incursions.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Ack! You're parsing words like a lawyer! Like an Arkansas lawyer being deposed about his shenanigans with young females!

Okay, not a deterent force, but rather a rapid reaction force intended to protect the ungarrisoned Aluetians from enemy incursions.

I think you are making an unfair comparison. While undoubtedly well within their "Best by" date, they were fully of age and, besides, he only got through one of them (what's the singular of "shenanigans"?). I quote:

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

The whole thing makes my head hurt trying to remember. I think I wrote it down but my Mayan housekeeper probably thought it was a laundry list and put it in the drawer with my Allen wrenches...wherever they are.

She probably thought it was a list of Japanese hookers you were to rendezvous with in Vegas and hid it so you wouldn't get in trouble with the Mrs.

I took the risk anyway but couldn't get through the whole list. After "Frying Dragon" got done with me I had to cancel out on "Fortunate Crane". I just wanted an ice pack.

[:D]

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Ack! You're parsing words like a lawyer! Like an Arkansas lawyer being deposed about his shenanigans with young females!

Okay, not a deterent force, but rather a rapid reaction force intended to protect the ungarrisoned Aluetians from enemy incursions.

I imagine it was annoyingly pedantic...sorry...but it reminded me of this [:)]:


Strangelove:

in wheelchair A moment please, Mr. President. stomps one foot on the tile floor, pushes back from the table and begins wheeling towards the discussion between Muffley and DeSadeski. Under the authority granted me as director of weapons research and development, I commissioned last year a study of this project by the Bland corporation. Based on the findings of the report, my conclusion was that this idea was not a practical deterrent, for reasons which, at this moment, must be all too obvious.

Muffley:

Then you mean it is possible for them to have built such a thing?

Strangelove:

carefully plucks cigarette from his shaking right hand, which is in a black glove Mr. President, the technology required is easily within the means of even the smallest nuclear power. It requires only the will to do so.

Muffley:

But, how is it possible for this thing to be triggered automatically, and at the same time impossible to untrigger?

Strangelove:

Mr. President, it is not only possible, it is essential. That is the whole idea of this machine, you know. Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy... the fear to attack. And so, because of the automated and irrevocable decision making process which rules out human meddling, the doomsday machine is terrifying. It's simple to understand. And completely credible, and convincing.

...

Strangelove:

Yes, but the... whole point of the doomsday machine... is lost... if you keep it a secret! Why didn't you tell the world, eh?

DeSadeski:

It was to be announced at the Party Congress on Monday. As you know, the Premier loves surprises.


I'll stop spamming now.[;)]

[Zorch]

Funny, wasn't General Buck Turgidson intended as a parody of Curtis LeMay?

And then there's General Ripper, with his 'Purity Of Essence' problem.

You should order CA Houston to break radio silence and transmit that their water purification device broke down...

[Canoerebel]

12/14/41

Devil's Triangle: Two days after Enterprise took two torpedos south of Hawaii, CA Northhampton took two from the same sub (I-171). Meanwhile, CA Pensacola took one from RO-63 near Pago Pago. Hey, I can do without this?

Enterprise: Meanwhile, Enterprise's FLT damage dropped from 30 to 28, so I am inclinced to go ahead and send her to the West Coast rather than Pearl Harbor. I won't breathe easy until she's in port.

NoPac: The Japanese landed at Amchitka Island, which makes me very angry! I don't like the enemy in the Aleutians. CA Houston is one day out, and four DDs are one day out from the other direction, so both TFs will drop by Amchitka to see what they might find.

DEI: Prince of Wales made Soerabaja with light damage. She'll depart for Colombo day after tomorrow. Repulse is still two days out of Soerabaja, with light/moderate damage. Kongo/Haruna sank an AO west of Singkawang, but the IJ amphibious force seems to have disappeared to the northwest (good!). Mini-KBs have left the Celebes Sea region, so for the first time I don't know where those carriers are. Allied AV at Palembang is up to 157.

Luzon: The Japanese attacked at Iba (by the way, they do control that base contrary to my previous assertion) and messed themselves up, but the Allied attack that followed didn't accomplish a thing. The Japanese have landed a third regiment, so I don't think I'm going to be able to re-take the port. I'll move my guys back to Clark Field, satisfied with knowing it will take a little time for the roughed-up IJA regiments to recover.

[Cribtop]

What's the Big E's SYS damage? If it's high enough you may consider parking her at Pearl until SYS is zero. Those "temporary repairs failing" messages are scary. That said, they are scarier for us JFBs because IJN damage control is seriously behind the times compared to the USN.

[Canoerebel]

Ent's SYS damage is holding steady at just 5. I have a good three or four days to divert her to Pearl if anything changes, but I'd rather she proceed to LA, because there are 2,947 IJN subs around Pearl at the moment.

[Cribtop]

5 is no worry. Probably less risk she sinks on the way to LA than the risk she eats a torp on the way into and then out of PH.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel
NoPac: The Japanese landed at Amchitka Island, which makes me very angry! I don't like the enemy in the Aleutians. CA Houston is one day out, and four DDs are one day out from the other direction, so both TFs will drop by Amchitka to see what they might find.

Wow...that was fast. You can send Lexington. [:)]

[Canoerebel]

Cap, you have a good eye for detail to remember that Lex fled this way.

This is a good illustration of all the factors a player has to consider in making decisions:

1. Japan invades Amchitka.

2. Allies have CA Houston and four DDs close - both "groups" will visit Amchitka tomorrow.

3. Lexington and Saratoga just arrived at Kodiak. Sara's escorts are very low on fuel. Two AO TFs will arrive at Kodiak in two days. Do I wait? Do I send just Lex?

4. Steve knows Lex went north, so does he WANT me to send Lex to Amchitka? Did he send the KB this way? It's possible, though I'd say not likely.

5. Nevertheless, rather than rushing pell-mell into a developing and largely uncertain situation, I'll let Houston and the DDs do some "scouting." Then, after Lex and Sara refuel, I can deploy some DDs as flankers, thus offering some early-warning capability.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

4. Steve knows Lex went north, so does he WANT me to send Lex to Amchitka? Did he send the KB this way? It's possible, though I'd say not likely.

Hehe. It sounds like you have been talking to Nemo. [:)]

[Canoerebel]

Except Nemo generally knows what he's doing. I talk myself into circles and end up having no idea what's going on.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Except Nemo generally knows what he's doing. I talk myself into circles and end up having no idea what's going on.

Nah, I would say the first week has been a remarkable success for the Allies. Can you imagine the morale boost a string of naval victories like this would have had in the first week after Pearl Harbor? The US and British public might have concluded the war would be over in the Pacific in a month. Of course, they would not have known it was Scenario 2.