PH seems to have disappeared, at least temporarily. He sent word more than a week ago that he'd be back and flip a turn yesterday, but I haven't seen or heard from him. It's too early to bug him, so I'm just chilling out and waiting to see what happens.
Like most, but not all, players, PH doesn't excel at communication about when the next turn will be coming. I'd guesstimate that perhaps 33% to 50% of players involved in a single PBEM match are good at communication with their opponent. Once a player takes on more than one PBEM at a time, the percentage immediately drops to the single digits.*
*Chez da Jes is one of the rarities - he juggled matches vs. Bradford Kay and me, but was always very courteous in telling us exactly when the next turn would come or wouldn't.
It only takes 10 seconds to write an email telling your opponent you won´t be sending a turn. And these days almost everyone can even do it via the mobilphone...
2/10/42
Some people seem to have a fundamental problem with communication; others it comes naturally. I'm not sure why. Maybe we're just born that way, like introvert or extrovert. PH showed up this morning, sending a turn and advising that he is in a remote location for vacation with uncertain internet connection. So turns will likely be halting until he returns to civilization.
NoPac: Alliford Bay airfield goes to level four. I think Vals and Kates are based there. Kates bomb the port facility at Prince Rupert, which might be a case of reconnaissance by fire. A US Army division will arrive in Seattle in a few days, enhancing my ability to garrison the northern rail line in Canada on the off chance that Steve intends to land at Prince Rupert and then move inland.
CenPac: Sara and York are about to rendezvous east of Christmas Island.
Oz: Lots of Japanese armor in NW Oz making things tough on the small Aussie units trying to pull back from the Darwin sector. Five transport TFs toting fighter squadrons to Adelaide from the USA (via Capetown) will begin arriving in a few days.
DEI: A Dutch sub misses a shot at BB Haruna in the South China Sea. SigInt that 5th Div. is prepping for Singapore. I would be very surprised to see a large army move on Singers now. If that happens, my bet is that much of the IJA army in Luzon will be split between there and China. I'm watching for that combo, or any other signs I might pick up.
Indian Ocean: Ent and Lex are on patrol near Cocos, while Indomitable and Hermes are further west. Lots of reinforcements are coming in to Aden and Capetown, then moving on to India or the key islands.
Burma: Steve doesn't seem to have enough yet to really push aside the relatively weak Allied garrisons. In fact, the Allies are going to try to push aside a couple of weak IJ units.
China: Here's where the action seems to be. I'm getting pretty good information about IJ troop movements trying to isolate the main Chinese army east (true) of Sian. I'm repositioning some units to meet various vectors of advance, while the main Chinese army looks for an opportunity to attack. Right now Steve seems more interesed in trying to gain an advantage by maneuver rather than by raw strength. My hope is to counter and delay so that time works to my advantage.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Glad tp see you're back on track Dan!
...but be carefull....this PH's behaviour may mean, in the mid term, that you will risk to lose another "AAR-Count-Posts" race against me
Be glad I and Q-Ball haven't started yet....[:'(]
2/11/42
West Coast: A Marine raider battalion joins a Canadian base force at the dot base inland from Prince Rupert, which should be enough to prevent a para-assault. Paid a bunch of PP to buy 27th/B Div. and begin loading aboard Queen Mary for the sprint from LA to Melbourne. The Allies have roughly 700 fighters on the West Coast now. Most of these seem to be training well despite the split setting (usually something like 30% CAP, 10% training).
CenPac: Sara and York rendezvous tomorrow.
DEI: The Japanese haven't moved across the causeway to invest Singers yet.
Burma: The Allies brush aside a weak unit at Meiktila, but Magwe may fall to a Japanese unit tomorrow.
India: The Allies have 300 AV at Bombay and 450 at Karachi. Most of the west coast bases have small garrisons of roughly 100 AV to prevent any kind of "dash and grab" effort.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
West Coast: A Marine raider battalion joins a Canadian base force at the dot base inland from Prince Rupert, which should be enough to prevent a para-assault. Paid a bunch of PP to buy 27th/B Div. and begin loading aboard Queen Mary for the sprint from LA to Melbourne. The Allies have roughly 700 fighters on the West Coast now. Most of these seem to be training well despite the split setting (usually something like 30% CAP, 10% training).
CenPac: Sara and York rendezvous tomorrow.
DEI: The Japanese haven't moved across the causeway to invest Singers yet.
Burma: The Allies brush aside a weak unit at Meiktila, but Magwe may fall to a Japanese unit tomorrow.
India: The Allies have 300 AV at Bombay and 450 at Karachi. Most of the west coast bases have small garrisons of roughly 100 AV to prevent any kind of "dash and grab" effort.
He's sure taking his time with Singapore. If there is a second level objective, there won't be much time for it if these troops need rest after taking the base.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
You haen't started yet? Wait, don't you already have like 200 posts already? By December 9, 1941, you'll be at 32,516....
[:)]
Yeah, they are hitting GJ like he owes them money.....Face it Canoe, you are no longer the fair haired child of the forum. You have to step asided and anoint "The Joyous Grey One" as the new and future king of the threads! [;)]
You haen't started yet? Wait, don't you already have like 200 posts already? By December 9, 1941, you'll be at 32,516....
[:)]
Yeah, they are hitting GJ like he owes them money.....Face it Canoe, you are no longer the fair haired child of the forum. You have to step asided and anoint "The Joyous Grey One" as the new and future king of the threads! [;)]
NoPac: The beleagured Anchorage garrison holds again against overwhelming numbers and somehow manages to inflict far great casualites on the Japanese army, which includes 2nd Division. This has to be driving Steve nuts. Japanese bombers also sniff around Prince George, a base that is distantly inland from Prince Rupert.
West Coast: The KB shows up well to the west of Los Angeles (and southwest of San Fran) and tangle with a sub that misses a shot vs. a destroyer. The KB sinks an xAK. Queen Elizabeth had just clear LA's harbor and is making trakcs well to the SW, so she should be safe. I'd already mostly emptied out the southern West Coast ports weeks ago out of concern about a raid, but BB Idaho is at San Fran and BB Warspite is in the yards at LA. The ships remaining in LA and SD will flee south. LA and SF both have roughly 150 fighters, though quality isn't particularly great.
What This Means: I thought the KB had departed NoPac weeks ago to participate in the secondary move, which I thought most likely would be aimed at Oz. Steve can't project a real threat vs. either Oz or India without the KB, so this means the Allies have alot more time before anything really bad could happen. Perhaps this means Steve will be focusing on China and West Coast/NoPac.
Indian Ocean: I might split my carriers with Ent/Lex covering Cocos and Indomitable/Hermes covering Port Blair. It looks like Japan can't leap forward here in any meaningful way in the short term.
Burma: The small Allied garrison at Magwe holds. Given two more days, reinforcements should lock up the base for awhile.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
There are many possible ploys in play with this West Coast raid. It's possible that it is a diversion, meant to draw West Coast fighter squadrons south while Steve uses LBA from Alliford Bay to attack Seattle or some other northwest industrial target. I think that's a fair possibility, so I'll keep the fighters in place, with 231 at Seattle, 73 at Vancouver, and 50 at Spokane (squadrons at the first two are mutually supporting, but Spokane is on its own).
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Very interesting turn... West Coast: The KB shows up well to the west of Los Angeles (and southwest of San Fran) and tangle with a sub that misses a shot vs. a destroyer. The KB sinks an xAK. Queen Elizabeth had just clear LA's harbor and is making trakcs well to the SW, so she should be safe. I'd already mostly emptied out the southern West Coast ports weeks ago out of concern about a raid, but BB Idaho is at San Fran and BB Warspite is in the yards at LA. The ships remaining in LA and SD will flee south. LA and SF both have roughly 150 fighters, though quality isn't particularly great.
Send in Capt Wild Bill Kelso. That'll stop them.
What is the fighter mix on the West Coast? Still crappy pre-war stuff or do you have some of the P-38 training squadrons already?
Well, if he comes for SF or LA he's gonna have huge losses (flak and cap) for no gain.... in your position, i would easily exchange a slow BB for a couple of squadron of aces and a lot less crack pre-war jap pilots
What is the fighter mix on the West Coast? Still crappy pre-war stuff or do you have some of the P-38 training squadrons already?
A big mix. Some of the early war crud, but enough Warhawks, Kittyhawks, P-39s (and perhaps 25 P-38s) to handle the job at the moment, I think. While the KB is a wild card - I can't cover every possible target - the threat from LBA is still pretty small. Steve's closes airfield at Alliford Bay is a long way from Seattle.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
Well, if he comes for SF or LA he's gonna have huge losses (flak and cap) for no gain.... in your position, i would easily exchange a slow BB for a couple of squadron of aces and a lot less crack pre-war jap pilots
That's mostly right, except every AA unit is now in the Pacific northwest. Most of them are massed at Seattle, but Vancouver, Tacoma, Portland and Spokane have some.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
