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

[Crackaces]

but Tarawa and vicinity is more important to me than the Gilberts

Huh?

I thought Tarawa was a part of the Gilberts? Do you mean Tarawa is more important than American Samoa? or New Caledonia?

At least I am reading [;)]

[Nemo121]

His time spent with Greyjoy is rubbing off here.

I think when he said Tarawa he probably misspelt Singapore or something [:D]


What we really need to watch out for is him telling us not to "misunderestimate" his opponent.

[desicat]

....and once Para is reinforced the Japanese are even more doomed than they already are....

The failure to take the DEI may persuade Chez to resign from the game but if he continues Para will be the gateway to the home islands and cause everything else to be a sideshow. If you want to force the KB into a battle bring your Navy to the Kuriles.

[Canoerebel]

Oops, brain poot on my part.  Yes, I meant to say that the Gilberts are more important than American Samoa (under the circumstances in this game).

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

His time spent with Greyjoy is rubbing off here.

I think when he said Tarawa he probably misspelt Singapore or something [:D]


What we really need to watch out for is him telling us not to "misunderestimate" his opponent.

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Oops, brain poot on my part.  Yes, I meant to say that the Gilberts are more important than American Samoa (under the circumstances in this game).

Well I made it very important in my game too [;)]

[Canoerebel]

8/21/42

NoPac: Chenango's F4Fs are back aboard, having found that it was more efficient to hop from Kodiak to Attu by making a stop aboard rather than staging to Cold Bay, which doesn't have any base force personnel. This squadron ought to arrive at Attu in two or three days, at which time the Allies will be ready to implement the plan to resupply Paramushiro. I am assuming that Kongo is sitll in theater. It is also possible that Steve has or will shift some carriers up here to deal with Wasp, which he last saw three weeks ago, so I need to be mighty careful with that asset.

NoPac: Dessicat raised the point as to how vital NoPac is in the game. I agree that NoPac is one of the best routes, if negligently attended, to close on Japan proper and implement a strategic bombing campaign. At the same time it is relatively easy for an experienced IJ player to deal with this threat in 1942. Steve should have re-invaded Onne and Para by now, but while his failure to do so is advantageous to the Allies, he has strongly fortified the remaining bases in the area. As a result, even if the Allies hold Para and/or Onne deep into the game it won't be a game winner at this point. While it will force Steve to maintain strong garrisons plus fighter defenses to guard against Allied bombers, those bases are not sufficient to really do meaningful damage to Japanese industry in my experience. Even the B-29 threat is not as strong as you'd think (that's judging from my experience in my game vs. Miller, Bullwinkle's experience in his game, and the comments of some others who have reached late game). So NoPac is an important threat in this game, but in my opinion it isn't a game winner (except to the exetent it distracts Steve from the DEI). In contrast, the Allied hold in the DEI is a game winner. So that is my highest priority.

CenPac: The larger KB detachment - the carriers east of Tarawa - moved closer to that base today and engaged in port strikes which damaged some five or six xAK, one or two xAP, a DD and an AM. He's using howitzers to shoot at sparrows - a diversion which suits me.

SoPac: The Allied transport TFs carrying troops to Oz (and from thence hopefully to Port Moresby and Milne Bay) are sliding past Tahiti, well to the west of the island.

SWPac: Two amphibious TFs at Townsville are each loading Aussie engineer units to take to PM and Milne. I'd rather not draw Steve's attention to these bases right now, but I wish to work on forts, port and airfield facilities well in advance of the arrival of those reinforcements. So, if this move does stir up something, at least it won't jeapardize the major garrison troops that are enroute.

DEI: Both IJ divisions have arrived at Padang, but I don't think Steve has enough to take the base. Meanwhile, he has no troops on the way from Sibolga, meaning that the two small Allied units moving to sever the road link behind his units should be able to do so. The Japanese army at Padang could become isolated with no route of retreat and the closest reinforcements weeks away. Risky behavior. Somebody asked about Allied interior airfields on Sumatra. The Allies are building Djambi, Lahat and Praebemolith, each of which is currently level two.

Burma: The IJ army at Magwe is still recovering after the failed 1:2 attack a few days ago.

China: The Japanese are on the move trying to gauge the sitaution around Sinyang. I don't have enough to take that base, but I am banging on pots and pans trying to confuse the enemy as to the nature and strength of the threat posed.

[paullus99]

CR - your Chinese troops have gained valuable experience and position & should you be able to open a clear line of supply, it is really going to hurt Chaz in the mid to long-term (if the game lasts that long).

Chaz seems to be determined to do something decisive in the Pacific (maybe) - but you are right in that he has picked the wrong spot. He could push you all the way back to PH, but it won't do a bit of good with Sumatra still firmly in your hands & astride his interior lines. Being in the position to start pulling Brit & Indian troops and pushing them directly into battle in Malaysia (or elsewhere) without having to fight a brutal Burmese campaign is something I've almost never seen before.

Keep up the good work - and keep dotting the i's & crossing the t's.

[Canoerebel]

This turn has one of those important decisions that are so common in AE. The situation:

Recon reports a sudden increase in IJ aircraft at Singapore, a level nine airfield. Just a couple of days ago, that base "showed" 54 fighters, 177 bombers and 135 auxillary. Today, it is showing 144 fighters, 125 bombers, and 247 auxillary.

It seems that Steve is preparing for an air assault. I think there are four likely targets: (1) Oosthaven's port with damaged BB Revenge (34/60/4), CA Salt Lake City (51/65/36) and CA Dorsetshire (25/15/5); (2) Allied troops at Padang (hoping for maximum disruption coinciding with a ground attack); (3) Padang's airfield (to shut it down to thus allow a prolonged bombing campaign aginst ground troops); (4) Allied shipping at Padang (but the chicken has already fled the coop - just four xAK with mainly supplies remain at the base).

I think Steve is very skittish about the 500+ fighters at Oosthaven. I also think Padang is his highest priority at the moment. I further think that a stinging repulse of an IJ bombing attack tomorrow would be a big setback for Japan; that Steve likely wouldn't attack any Sumatran bases for quite some time to come.

There is also the possibility that an IJA land attack could take the base, thus wiping out the hundreds of aircraft based there. However, such an outcome is pretty unlikely. This is jungle-rough terrain (x3) defense, three forts, the Allies are fully supplied and Japan probably isn't, and the Allies have 750 AV while Japan only has about 200 more.

Taking all these into consideration, I'm going to transfer a fair number of fighters to Padang - far more than that level four airfield can handle. I currently have 150 fighters there (with 90 base force personnel). I'm going to bump that to about 250 to 300, leaving Oosthaven with something between 300 and 400. This is risky for two reasons: (1) I could lose some capital ships if Steve actually attacks Oosthaven; or (2) if Japan really comes against Padang in force, the Allies could lose the resulting air battle even with 250 fighters in place, thus freeing (and emboldening) Steve to continue and ramp up offensive air operations.

So this is not a clearcut situation. Let's see how it turns out.

[Ron Saueracker]

Hey CR. Been a while. I see you are still a master of innovation. Amazing to be able to pull off a Fortress Palembang in a PBEM, especially vs a longtime campaigner like Chez. Rock on...[8D]

[Canoerebel]

Nothing happened over Padang the following day, showing once again that even the most careful analysis of enemy intentions, followed by elaborate planning and deployment, often turns out to be much ado about nothing.

[ny59giants]

Can you base a couple of BB (Bombardment) TF at Cocos and start to hit his troops at Padang?? I would get some of your Aussie and/or Indian armor units over there to make life miserable for him.

[Canoerebel]

I've thought before about using bombardment runs against IJ troops moving down the coastal road to Padang. AE Shasta is on the way to Cocos (she's about six days away) to support these missions.

I have Aussie, Indian and American armored units at or adjacent to Padang. The latter two are at the base. The Aussies are busy cutting behind the enemy to cut the road and then take the only hexside open to the Japanese units at Padang.

[Canoerebel]

8/22/42

NoPac: Chenango's squadrons will reach Attu Island in two days, so the operation to insert supply and reinforcements at Para should take place in three days. I'm concerned that Zuikaku and Shokaku could be on the way to this theater. I don't mind losing a bunch of transports, but I'll be very careful with Wasp.

CenPac: A damaged USN DD stumbled across Hiyo and Junyo south of Tarawa; Soryu and Kaga are east of the island. More IJ carrier sorties vs. transports disbanded into port at Tarawa.

SoPac: The two big New Guinea reinforcement convoys are west of Raratonga. They will slide by New Zealand's north cape in ten days or so. The two engineering units bound from Townsville to Port Moresby and Milne Bay should depart tomorrow or the next day.

DEI: I don't know what Steve is doing at Padang. He's islolated a larger army (his) where it can do no good due to the Allied garrison and favorable terrain. If this was an attempt to divert and then pin down a large Allied force it isn't working (since he has more AV there than do the Allies). His army is a long way from home. Its connection to home (a yellow trail) is long and vacant and soon to be severed by Allied units. And his army's only hexside at Padang will be closed by Allied troops in a few days. Which brings to mind another oddity. Steve has held Merak for months now, yet it is still a level one airfield. Since that base is just one hex from Oosthaven, I had expected him to build it large ASAP to help neutralize Oost. Large airfields at Merak and Batavia would make life pretty difficult for the Allies, especially had Japan taken Toabali, Muntok and Billiton, the island bases with big-potential airfields just to the north. Yet none of this has been done.

Burma: The happy stalemate at Magwe continues.

China: Four Chinese corps rough up 116th Division in the open near Sinyang. This is a fruit of the "banging pots and pans campaign" currently going on in this region. I still think Steve's garrisons at Hankow, Sinyang and Chengchow are too strong to take on, but perhaps continued "banging" will flush more victims into the open.

[ny59giants]

CV Wasp - I hope you have re-sized her fighters. You still have room for one of two options. First, would be to break up a Marine fighter unit (18 planes) and add six more here and on your other American CVs. Second, you have a Wildcat Recon unit (12 planes), that you can break up into 3 x 4 plane units. They have great range to help with actual Recon and/or Naval Search missions.

I sometimes wonder if it best to 'not' resize the American CV fighters from 27 to 36 and instead keep the 18 plane Marine fighters on board through 42. Having 45 fighters per American CV is a nice thing to have. [:)]

[Cribtop]

Good to see Ron S back on the boards.

Consider that a big para assault will halve your adjusted AV at Padang. Even taking that into account, I think you win. You could take major advantage of isolating Chez' army there, btw.

Finally, I thought GreyJoy renamed the Cocos Islands as "Coconut Island." Please update your map. If you don't have the necessary info, I recently received a nifty calendar in the mail from the Bank of Scoodra I could pass on to you.

[Canoerebel]

I don't think I've seen GJ refer to Cocos as "Coconut," but Lord knows he's capable of it.

I do know, however, that in his honor my maps shall evermore have an island known as Scoodra off Africa's east coast.

[princep01]

No, no....it comes from this....Friends say, it's all or nothing...take her off to a Coconut Island.....apologies to Counting Crows.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker
...I see you are still a master of innovation. Amazing to be able to pull off a Fortress Palembang in a PBEM, especially vs a longtime campaigner like Chez. Rock on...[8D]

Thanks, Ron. It's great ot have you back.

For the sake of transparency and honesty, I do need to say that I am not the "master of innovation." I am following in the footsteps of others, primarily Nemo, in the Fortress Palembang defense. In fact, it was a comment by Nemo that prompted me to go down this road.

Coincidentally, I've been jotting down notes in preparation for writing a summary of how Fortress Palembang evolved in this game. I thought a short, comprehensive account might be of interest to newer players. I should have it ready for posting later today or tomorrow.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

CV Wasp - I hope you have re-sized her fighters. You still have room for one of two options. First, would be to break up a Marine fighter unit (18 planes) and add six more here and on your other American CVs. Second, you have a Wildcat Recon unit (12 planes), that you can break up into 3 x 4 plane units. They have great range to help with actual Recon and/or Naval Search missions.

I sometimes wonder if it best to 'not' resize the American CV fighters from 27 to 36 and instead keep the 18 plane Marine fighters on board through 42. Having 45 fighters per American CV is a nice thing to have. [:)]

The fighter sqauadrons are re-sized on all (or most) of the American carriers, including Wasp. However, the Marine fighter units were already aboard the carriers in the Indian Ocean from early in the game, so that none were available when Wasp arrived on the scene. So Wasp is carrying just her squadron of 36 F4Fs, which is currently divided between her decks and the airfield at Paramushiro.