Nothing Up My Sleeve: Magical Moose Tricks--Bullwinkle58 vs.1EyedJacks

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

In one of my scenario Coral Sea PBEM games, Furutaka was detached from her surface task force near the tip of P/NG and vectored towards an American SCTF that was approaching. In a series of running night engagements, she single handedly sank Minneapolis and another CA with torpedoes and brutalized another 2-3 escorting DDs. She was a force of nature. I loves me some Jap heavy cruisers. [&o]

As an aside, in addition to-of course-any Allied carrier (particularly early war 'name recognition' types), I always enjoy sinking the Minneapolis. It's my poke in the eye of classic Minnesotan passive-aggressive behavior.

I'm transplanted Minnesotan, so I'd give you Minneapolis if I could have Boise back. My biggest regret in the game so far.

[Bullwinkle58]

December 22, 1941

Tricks, Few Treats

A workmanlike turn. I don't always have insightful things to say, and I'm finding out that in AAR land you can quickly wear out the "Hey! Look at this!" factor. Some days you just grind the grain, and so does he. This was one of those. It won't be the last.

That said, this turn, which straddled Halloween and was delayed by me running every five minutes to the front door to see the kids while GOTP handed out the loot, let me play with two ideas I thought might work. One did, one didn't. By forum rules these should go in The War Room, but I really don't want to talk in public about them right now.

1) First, the Didn't. From the very first turn I have had a halo of Japanese subs hanging around Pearl. They have moved now and then on the south and SW sides, but to the north I have had at least four in one hex every day, and one hex to the SE three. I pulled my ASW TFs in to regroup since I was getting attacks but no hits, and had suffered a few losses. I also sent my lone APD, with an ASW rating of 6, in from San Diego, and APD Waters had arrived last turn. So what I did was this: I formed a minelaying TF of two layers and three DDs for cover, loaded a grand total of five mines (all I have), and ordered them dumped at sea, in deep water, right on top of the four-sub hex. I also formed a 3-ship ASW TF with USS Waters and two 2-rated DDs into the hex with three subs.

My hope was Japan would see the mine symbol appear, not know there were only five bad boys, and shift the four in with the three just as my 6-rated APD ran out of Pearl into a 7-sub hex. I know mines in deep water have the lifespan of a banana, but it was only five and an experiment.

I don't know if he didn't see the symbol, didn't care, or what, but the four subs didn't move.

To the SE, Waters did attract attention, but it was sameo, sameo.

ASW attack near Pearl Harbor at 181,106

Japanese Ships
SS I-5

Allied Ships
APD Waters
DD Aylwin
DD Monaghan

SS I-5 launches 2 torpedoes at APD Waters
I-5 diving deep ....

2) The second experiment went better. In this beta patch Michael has added a Coastal routing switch. It can be combined with the other old ones such as "Direct." When engaged it auto-routes a TF through shallow water if it's available, all the way to the destination. There's no limit as there would be with waypoints, and it's one-click fast.

Since I have no air search left in the PI, but I do have PTs, I thought I could use them for search with the Coastal switch. I ordered my Manila PTs to go to Laoag, on Coastal. They went up the coast hitting every port hex on the way with React=1 set. I got a look in every port on the west coast, and they found a couple of TFs.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Laoag at 81,71, Range 3,000 Yards THIS IS ONE HEX PAST LAOAG, SO REACT WORKED

Japanese Ships
CL Natori
CL Kuma
DD Satsuki
DD Minazuki

Allied Ships
MTB 7
MTB 8
MTB 9
MTB 10
MTB 11
MTB 12
MTB 26
MTB 27

No hits gained, but I know not to send my Lonesome Duo of old DDs up here.
I think this coastal tactic has promise in a lot of areas of the map, and not just with PT boats.

3) My other PI PT TF, using similar tactics, found this:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Laoag at 81,72, Range 18,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Harukaze
DD Matsukaze
DD Hatakaze
DMS W-15
xAK Akiura Maru
xAK Kazuura Maru
xAK Kumagawa Maru
xAK Keiyo Maru
xAK Tatukami Maru
xAK Okiyu Maru
xAK Kotoku Maru
xAK Takaoka Maru
xAK Atlas Maru
xAK Kamoi Maru
xAK Shinyubari Maru

Allied Ships
PT-31
PT-32
PT-33
PT-34
PT-35
PT-41





This is intel I would not have otherwise gotten. I don't know where this force is going. It can unlaod safely up-country, but then it has to march to Lingayan, Iba, or Clark. Or, it could be headed for Lingayan, which is my hope since it is mined pretty well and just went to Forts 2. I don't know if the Japanese have seen a mine symbol on Lingayan; I don't think they've been in the hex yet. Regardless, this TF is large enough to contain the main Clark/Manila/Bataan nut-crackers. Any licks I can get in at sea would be useful.

4) At Menado he unloads, I shoot back. CD fire almost certainly does enough damage to sink an xAKL. I think it's the one also damaged yesterday. My Three-Point-Play sub, USS Seadragon, arrives, fires two fish, misses. CDR Ferrall has had enough of this foolishness, so he does a battle surface and unloads the ready-ammo lockers into the hapless Japanese merchantman.

Submarine attack near Manado at 75,99

Japanese Ships
xAKL Amakasu Maru, Shell hits 49, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Seadragon, hits 1

xAKL Amakasu Maru is sighted by SS Seadragon
SS Seadragon attacking xAKL Amakasu Maru on the surface
SS Seadragon low on gun ammo, Ferrall, W.E. breaks off surface engagement and submerges

5) My subs work it, scoring no hits but not letting him forget they're there. Seal shoots at CL Kuma near Laoag, KXII lurks in the harbor at Patani, S-36 escapes ASW attack near Kuching. I have many subs, formerly out of Manila, transiting to new homes in Pearl, Brisbane, Batavia (I saved one AS from the carnage), Soerbaja, and Singers. A few have 25% damge or a bit more, but all will make it. I expect a second wave of patrols to be more focused, less reactionary to landings, and with some new COs.

I also flush AS Canopus out of Manila's yard, very damaged, heading for Balikpapan. I'd give her a 10% chance, but it's possible he has pulled all air off naval attack at this point. I haven't seen the MKB in about a week. Manila still has two merchants in the yards, too hurt to run. He has shifted to AF bombing, so if they get patched up before he arrives I'll flush them too.

6) The expected pounding of Singers comes, preceeded by two sweeps where I lose five more Buffalo. I have moved the Blenheims to Palembang, but leave the TBs one more turn before beginning the shuttle, in case his wounded CAs are still in range. Air search loses them though; the TBs don't fly and I lose one and have another damaged. He bombs from 15,000 ft. The vector looks like KB. I'm mulling whether a B-17 strike would be an acceptable trade-off over an extra day on Miri. I don't think KB is overstacked, but he has some planes there. His damage numbers today at Singers give me hope of some ops losses:

Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 58 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 33

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 14 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak


Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish I: 1 damaged
Swordfish I: 1 destroyed on ground
S.19 Singapore III: 1 damaged
Buffalo I: 5 damaged

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 8

7) In the PI he shifts to Clark, knowing now that Manila has no CAP. He hits Clark hard, sending 61 bombers and 34 Zeros. This

Airbase hits 36
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 95

says CAP's days are numbered at Clark. I have a lot of engineers working there, but more forts may be a 2 steps forward, 1 step back proposition now. A second strike of 21 bombers does 15 more runway hits.

8) Rangoon is Oscar-swept, but CAP is not there. I expect this exploratory surgery will lead to a heavy strike tomorrow, probably from Bangkok.

9) In China, Changsha AF is hit again, losses focusing on supply. Other air attacks focus on troops in motion.

10) At Ichang I had moved in several LCUs to see if I could make some noise and perhaps take this normally easy early target. But I waited too long and he got there first. I pay for it.

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15183 troops, 116 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 589

Defending force 14309 troops, 77 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 432

Japanese adjusted assault: 235

Allied adjusted defense: 61

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
483 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
6770 casualties reported
Squads: 185 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 297 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 9 (8 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 3

These units will head for the border now.

Down SE of Ichang one hex I had one LCU pinned up against the river, unable to move in any direction. I order a break-out attack, not expecting much, and do a bit better.

Ground combat at 84,48 (near Ichang)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9649 troops, 75 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 234

Defending force 2155 troops, 8 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 97

Allied adjusted assault: 99

Japanese adjusted defense: 27

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
664 casualties reported
Squads: 34 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
103 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
30th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
11th RGC Temp. Division

11) Vacant Wuchow is taken.

12) In the mountains, on the rail line near Chengting, he tries again. The Chinese hold. Supply is low, but morale and disruption are very good considering the pace of combat. Losses are relatively even:

Japanese ground losses:
137 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
249 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 29 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 9 (3 destroyed, 6 disabled)

13) Bojangles falls. Defenders retreat north. Only the 146th Inf. Reg. attacks. I had thought there were base forces too.

14) At Moulmein he gallops a tank unit in solo and defeats my three small units "just passing through" on the way to Pegu/Rangoon. One of these I need to reform a larger unit. They take stiff losses, but retreat closer to their goal.

Ground combat at Moulmein (55,55)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 525 troops, 0 guns, 80 vehicles, Assault Value = 46

Defending force 1369 troops, 3 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 43

Japanese adjusted assault: 40

Allied adjusted defense: 11

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Moulmein !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), preparation(-), morale(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Allied ground losses:
710 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
14th Tank Regiment

Defending units:
Tenasserim BAF Battalion
6th Burma Rifles Battalion
108th RAF Base Force

15) Vacant Taiping in Malaysia falls. I have ordered the Aussies at Mersing to fall back to Johore Bahru, leaving Mersing empty but mined. Malaysia is almost empy of Allied forces now, with only a couple of trailing refugees trying to reach the railhead at Temuloh, and the lone unit standing by at Malacca, holding the door. If he comes in at Mersing I won't have much time, but if he comes down from KB by rail I may get Singers to Forts 4 + 50% or so.

16) My complete carrier TFs at San Diego need five days to fully repair. I have not made any decisions as to deployments.

[Chickenboy]

Bump from mid-page 2 purgatory...

[;)]
A little reminder of how to be a submariner:

1. Buy a steel dumpster, paint it gray inside and out, and live in it for six months.
2. Run all the pipes and wires in your house exposed on the walls.
3. Repaint your entire house every month.
4. Renovate your bathroom. Build a wall across the middle of the bathtub and move the shower head to chest level. When you take showers, make sure you turn off the water while you soap down.
5. Put lube oil in your humidifier and set it on high.
6. Once a week, blow compressed air up your chimney, making sure the wind carries the soot onto your neighbor’s house. Ignore his complaints.
7. Once a month, take all major appliances apart and then reassemble them.
8. Raise the thresholds and lower the headers of your front and back door so that you either trip or bang your head every time you pass through them.
9. Disassemble and inspect your lawnmower every week.
10. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, turn your water heater temperature up to 200 degrees. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, turn the water heater off. On Saturdays and Sundays tell your family they use too much water during the week, so no bathing will be allowed.
11. Raise your bed to within 6” of the ceiling, so you can’t turn over without getting out and then getting back in.
12. Sleep on the shelf in your closet. Replace the closet door with a curtain. Have your spouse whip open the curtain about 3 hours after you go to sleep, shine a flashlight in your eyes, and say “Sorry, wrong rack.”
13. Make your family qualify to operate each appliance in your house -dishwasher operator, blender technician, etc.
14. Have your neighbor come over each day at 0500, blow a whistle so loud Helen Keller could hear it, and shout “Reveille, reveille, all hands heave out and trice up.”
15. Have your mother-in-law write down everything she’s going to do the following day, then have her make you stand in your back yard at 0600 while she reads it to you.
16. Submit a request chit to your father-in-law requesting permission to leave your house before 1500.
17. Empty all the garbage bins in your house and sweep the driveway three times a day, whether it needs it or not.
18. Have your neighbor collect all your mail for a month, read your magazines, and randomly lose every 5th item before delivering it to you.
19. Watch no TV except for movies played in the middle of the night. Have your family vote on which movie to watch, then show a different one.
20. When your children are in bed, run into their room with a megaphone shouting that your home is under attack and ordering them to their battle stations. (Now general quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations.)
21. Make your family menu a week ahead of time without consulting the pantry or refrigerator.
22. Post a menu on the kitchen door informing your family that they are having steak for dinner. Then make them wait in line for an hour. When they finally get to the kitchen, tell them you are out of steak, but they can have dried ham or hot dogs. Repeat daily until they ignore the menu and just ask for hot dogs.
23. Bake a cake . Prop up one side of the pan so the cake bakes unevenly. Spread icing real thick to level it off.
24. Get up every night around midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on stale bread. (midrats)
25. Set your alarm clock to go off at random during the night. At the alarm, jump up and dress as fast as you can, making sure to button your top shirt button and tuck your pants into your socks. Run out into the backyard and uncoil the garden hose.
26. Every week or so, throw your cat or dog in the pool and shout “Man overboard port side!” Rate your family members on how fast they respond.
27. Put the headphones from your stereo on your head, but don’t plug them in. Hang a paper cup around your neck on a string. Stand in front of the stove, and speak into the paper cup “Stove manned and ready.” After an hour or so, speak into the cup again “Stove secured.” Roll up the headphones and paper cup and stow them in a shoebox.
28. Place a podium at the end of your driveway. Have your family stand watches at the podium, rotating at 4 hour intervals. This is best done when the weather is worst. January is a good time.
29. When there is a thunderstorm in your area, get a wobbly rocking chair, sit in it and rock as hard as you can until you become nauseous. Make sure to have a supply of stale crackers in your shirt pocket.
30. For former engineers: bring your lawn mower into the living room, and run it all day long.
31. Make coffee using eighteen scoops of budget priced coffee grounds per pot, and allow the pot to simmer for 5 hours before drinking.
32. Have someone under the age of ten give you a haircut with sheep shears.
33. Sew the back pockets of your jeans on the front.
34. Lock yourself and your family in the house for six weeks. Tell them that at the end of the 6th week you are going to take them to Disney World for “liberty.” At the end of the 6th week, inform them the trip to Disney World has been canceled because they need to get ready for an inspection, and it will be another week before they can leave the house.
35. Invite your neighbors over and given them directions to get to different parts of your home referring only to Bulkheads, Overheads, Decks, Ladder-ways, Hatches

[Bullwinkle58]

Thanks, CB. That list is legendary on Usenet. And not too far off the mark.

The game slowed Friday/Sat. as Mike had a weekend emergency at work which led to all-nighters. Sunday he recovered and did honey-dos while I recovered from two days of putting the yard to bed for the winter. Plus football for both of us.

I did the turn and have the movie as of this AM. I'm going to vote, then will update. (He's trying e-mail psyops, and it's working, a little.)

[BBfanboy]

[:D] Sounds about right - but weren't there parties stimulated with "torpedo juice"?

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Thanks, CB. That list is legendary on Usenet. And not too far off the mark.

The game slowed Friday/Sat. as Mike had a weekend emergency at work which led to all-nighters. Sunday he recovered and did honey-dos while I recovered from two days of putting the yard to bed for the winter. Plus football for both of us.

I did the turn and have the movie as of this AM. I'm going to vote, then will update. (He's trying e-mail psyops, and it's working, a little.)

Re: the voting, I hope Florida has stacking limits this time around! [:-]

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

[:D] Sounds about right - but weren't there parties stimulated with "torpedo juice"?

Long ago. My boat, built in the early 60s, was designed to fire Mk 14s, and carried some in 1960s patrols. There was a make-up fuel tank in the TR about the size of an gas grill propane tank. In the 60s it was full of alcohol. Alas, in my day only air.

[Bullwinkle58]

December 23, 1941

Meh

Canoerebel, recently accused of verbosity (he isn't), would write three lines about today and get out of Dodge. I am verbose, so I'll do more, but it wasn't a great day. It is, in real life, Election Day, so I want to get this done and then go into the orgy of politics the afternoon, evening, and night will be here in Frostbite Falls. (Dixsville Notch brags they're the first place in America to vote, but really it's the Falls. Rocky and I cancelled each other's votes.)

I write as much as I do because I like to hear myself hold forth, yes, but also because my opponent asked me to keep notes and records so he could compare once this is over. Well, I don't do notes and records, so this has to suffice. I expect it will become more terse and probably infrequent as things get in a groove, but right now every little thing seems worth sharing, so I do.

A side note: I recieved in the movie e-mail "Man - it looks like you've got one tough Christmas in 1941." Christmas Island, which withstood a THIRD day of Yellow Devil attacks? Probably not. Just a general comment? Being generous, probably. Something to come in the next 48? This is what's keeping me guessing right now. I have a suspicion.

To the turn . . .

1) Not a good day to be a skimmer puke. My PTs sortie north once more, looking for the fat xAK-fest seen yesterday. The MTBs I left at home, guarding Lingayan. The PTs find a dual-CL, dual-DD horror show, and lose two obliterated. (What dev inserted that handy text string?) Retreating south they run straight into three DDs and lose another brother, leaving three to limp home.

2) DDs Pillsbury and John Ford, in the wake of the PTs and looking for merchants to justify their fuel usage, run into the same 4-ship TF and do not do well at long range. Pillsbury takes six hits and is heavily afire. Heading south the ships repeat recent history, meet the DDs. Pillsbury is sunk, and Ford is critically wounded and probably won't make Manila. Combined they score two hits on the TF.

I never know the best thing to do with the four Social Security-aged DDs the PI has stationed on 12/7. Against the AI I usually get more blood out of them than this. I have never been successful running them out of theater, but maybe I should have here. Dunno. But the PI's defenders are down to a slim roster.

3) I-173 sneaks into Hilo harbor again and sinks two more xAKLs, part of a light supply-only TF sent from the WC. I still have most of the ASW forces at Pearl. I don't want to jump when he says to, but ASW is one of my hair-triggers. The gaggle of subs around Hawaii is starting to really grate.

4) S-28, part of the Great Wall of Subs west of Johnson I., puts a fish into xAK Kohoku Maru, escorted by one DD.

5) Sweeps commence, and I notice they are becoming predominently Oscars. I still see Nates once a day or so in China, but many of his China bombing missions aren't escorted. I assume the Nates are in training mode. I don't know his starting Oscar pools, but I think he can make about 45/month in Scen 2 before expansions (?) He can only have made about 20 by now, but they're beginning to be common.

He sweeps Singers, Rangoon, Clark (after the bombers have come and gone.) I have one Buffalo airborne at Singers, nothing at Clark. My very first Hurricane unit is on a ship headed to Sumatra from CT, but it's three weeks out or so. AVG is at Calcutta training and waiting for the airfield to expand to 7 so I can upgrade.

6) Bombing commences.

Singers
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15
G3M2 Nell x 33

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 9 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 29

Clark
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 34
G3M2 Nell x 7
G4M1 Betty x 48

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 21
Runway hits 42
----------------------------
Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 3
G4M1 Betty x 44

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged

Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 47

Singers
Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 9

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 6 damaged

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 3

Numerous route march bombing missions in China, Malaysia, Burma. The trio retreating north from the loss of Moulmein get a nice workover in particular.

In the detail is the strategy, obviously. Supply destruction, hold back forts. But there are also decent damage numbers for the Allies, and hopes of some ops losses as well as repair lulls where I can get some work in on the forts after the game insists on fixing the AFs.

7) The Miri Men swing back into action against the oil centers. Two attacks, Oscars meet both, more now, but no Forts are lost. One more point of damage is recorded.

8) In the mountains near Chengting he brings in one more LCU and fimally breaks the Chinese defenses, opening the railroad. These men bought me a week which was well used. They will make for the west as they are able. I don't have a route yet, but possibly by way of Sian. But Bravo Zulu, 35th Corps.

Ground combat at 92,38 (near Chengting)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13723 troops, 93 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 483

Defending force 8561 troops, 72 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Allied adjusted defense: 97

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
61 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2561 casualties reported
Squads: 142 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 232 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 11 (11 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
12th Indpt Infantry Regiment
5th Armored Car Co
9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
11th Indpt Infantry Regiment
26th Engineer Regiment

Defending units:
35th Chinese Corps
13th Group Army


9) As above, Christmas Island holds again at 1:1 and zero forts. Allies take 42 to 0 casualties. He may try to reinforce this attack; I should move a sub.

Note: During my fiddling in entering my turn I clicked on a TF I would normally have ignored. Due west of Midway about twenty hexes is a single-ship refugee xAK from the PI. Of all the ships I flushed from the PI everything that went south died, mostly to the MKB and surface patrols. But 80% of what I sent east for Midway or Dutch survived. (USS Penguin, late of Guam, is happily ASW patrolling near Kodiak.) This plodding merchant, aimed at Midway and thence to SF, had a note on it concerning altering course to avoid surface threat. Hmm. I have no sightings anywhere near, nor intel. But the code is usually not wrong about this one. So, a Midway invasion force up to the north of my refugee? It would fit with the cordon around Hawaii idea. Midway is defended only with what came with the kit, plus two Bolos on ASW. It woudl be pretty easy to knock over right now. But it would also be one more supply headache for Japan, and easy to approach from CONUS with raiders unless heavily supplied with patrols. I should know if something is up by Christmas.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58
5) Sweeps commence, and I notice they are becoming predominently Oscars. I still see Nates once a day or so in China, but many of his China bombing missions aren't escorted. I assume the Nates are in training mode. I don't know his starting Oscar pools, but I think he can make about 45/month in Scen 2 before expansions (?) He can only have made about 20 by now, but they're beginning to be common.

Scenario 2 grants sizeable pools for Ia, Ib and Ic models. This is helpful for immediately transitioning a few of the Nate units. Figure on ~100 / month of the Ic model after factory expansion repairs are complete, but he shouldn't realize this for at least a month of game time.

[BBfanboy]

No matter what you try with those geriatric DDs, they are likely to get knocked off their walker - so why not go really bold and unexpected. If he has taken Hong Kong, send them there at full speed. Or try Takao, mines and all - those skinny DDs will likely miss them. Or maybe Cam Rahn Bay - always likely to be a lot of fat ships there.
What about air attacks? Well DDs are hard to hit and much more so at full speed.
Sure it's a suicide mission, but so is sitting in Manila port waiting for them to come. The Japanese may call them kamikazes, but we call them noble heros, sacrificing themselves for their comrades, God and apple pie. [;)]

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

No matter what you try with those geriatric DDs, they are likely to get knocked off their walker - so why not go really bold and unexpected. If he has taken Hong Kong, send them there at full speed. Or try Takao, mines and all - those skinny DDs will likely miss them. Or maybe Cam Rahn Bay - always likely to be a lot of fat ships there.
What about air attacks? Well DDs are hard to hit and much more so at full speed.
Sure it's a suicide mission, but so is sitting in Manila port waiting for them to come. The Japanese may call them kamikazes, but we call them noble heros, sacrificing themselves for their comrades, God and apple pie. [;)]

Well, HK, Takao, and Cam Rahn are all really mined when the game starts. And he's had surface patrols on the invasion routes every time I've gone across one. I tried not to leave the DDs at Manila--they were out looking all but two days I think--but they have about zero AA, and popguns for main armament. If I had to do it over I think I'd send them east for Midway in single-ship TFs. I'd wait until the MKB was clear of Bab-de-bob and then run for it. Not sure if they have the legs, but I might get close enough to risk a merchant to go out and give them a drink. It's moot now though.

I have to give Mike kudos for his surface coverage all around the PI and Borneo. This is a new one over the AI for me.

[Bullwinkle58]

Woah. Post election night, operating on three hours sleep. What a rumble in the jungle yesterday. Epic.

So, I have the turn. I looked at it last night in between state result graphics. I need to do this, I need to do that. Pull my best ASW pilots into groups, blah, blah. But am I getting into a rut? Am I dancing to his tune? Johnson Island shows three groups of groups--should I raid it? Is it a trap? I feel like I'm shuffling the deck chairs around in China, in Malaysia. I know how the play ends in the PI. The butler did it, so can't we cut to the chase?

I'm going to nap, then finish moving the chairs. Maybe it will look different after some sleep and a PBJ. But I need to come up with a way to make him a little afraid.

Any ideas?

[Encircled]

I don't know about your force composition, but I'd be considering a small SCTF raid on Christmas Is?

Maybe based around an Omaha class and a couple of destroyers?

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Woah. Post election night, operating on three hours sleep. What a rumble in the jungle yesterday. Epic.

So, I have the turn. I looked at it last night in between state result graphics. I need to do this, I need to do that. Pull my best ASW pilots into groups, blah, blah. But am I getting into a rut? Am I dancing to his tune? Johnson Island shows three groups of groups--should I raid it? Is it a trap? I feel like I'm shuffling the deck chairs around in China, in Malaysia. I know how the play ends in the PI. The butler did it, so can't we cut to the chase?

I'm going to nap, then finish moving the chairs. Maybe it will look different after some sleep and a PBJ. But I need to come up with a way to make him a little afraid.

Any ideas?

You will need:

• audacity
• both tactical and strategic surprise
• luck that you haven't removed the necessary prerequisites due to other, earlier decisions

to achieve what you want to do.

In that context, assuming you:

• still retain the bases
• have aviation support at these bases
• prepared to do a little bit of supply stockpiling at these bases, and
• don't mind damaging your medium defence of these bases by accelerating local supply consumption

you can use shift your B-17D offensive missions from their current targets which are only long term and probably not of great concern to your opponent as he can live off the large stockpiles, and instead him him deep behind the lines. To that end, I present...drum roll please...flying out of...

• Changsha
• Wenchow
• Clark

to strategically bomb

• the oil field of Taihoku from Changsha (11 hexes), Clark (15 hexes), and Wenchow which is only a few hexes distant
• the Heavy Industry of Shanghai from Changsha (12 hexes), and Wenchow (5) hexes
• the aircraft factories of Nagasaki and Fukuoka which are 13 and 15 hexes from Wenchow

Taking a slightly longer timeframe into account, if you build up the Yenan airfield to level 2, you can reach the tempting Heavy Industry and aircraft factories of Mukden (17 hexes away from Yenan).

Of course there is a cost to this exercise.

1. Only Clark airfield is large enough to allow flying the B-17D at extended range. That model requires a size 5 airfield for flying at extended range.

2. Because the other airfields are less than size 5,

(a) the number of planes flying will be reduced
(b) the planes are limited to only normal range
(c) they will fly with reduced bombloads

3. Each B-17D consumes 8 supply points per offensive mission flown. You will need to factor in that supply consumption into how much supply to stockpile at the bases plus maintain a supply stockpile of 2x the base supply needed in order to avoid other penalties.

There are, however, some significant benefits from this plan.

(A) Just like the Spanish Inquisition, your opponent will not be expecting this counterattack

(B) You actually could hurt him in the short term (particularly if you target the aircraft factories of Mukden) and thereby throw a spanner into his early timetable, whereas I strongly suspect damaging the Miri oil fields is not a short term concern for him

(C) By striking far from the frontlines the responding defensive assets will be out of the frontlines and give you some respite. In particular striking at the Japanese supply generating capacity in China (and you can consider using American 2E for this purpose) will potentially slow down the Japanese advance in China until supply is imported. Which of course might impact elsewhere

(D) It might also interrupt his pilot training program in the rear


You will need to move quickly because the repalcement model, the B-17E is considerably shorter in range and the B-17D is vulnerable to the "modern" Japanese fighters.

Alfred

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Encircled

I don't know about your force composition, but I'd be considering a small SCTF raid on Christmas Is?

Maybe based around an Omaha class and a couple of destroyers?

I have surface forces at Pearl. There are about 8 accessible DDs, Nevada is slightly damaged, and I have a CL about a week away from being fixed. The CAs are more like 40 days +/-. Arizona could go in a pinch, but I'd rather not. At Seattle Warspite is four days away and Colorado 11, but no escorts are present. There are 4 DDs about to exit the Canal Zone wormhole which will make for Seattle. In SD I have the bulk of the ready USN fleet. Three CVs and about ten CAs and DDs I can spare.

Christmas, from what I can recon, has no ships present. He dumped the Naval Guards and left, thinking they'd be enough. This turn they should take the base, but they'll need help soon. OTOH, at Johnson I can see multiple TFs, and the subs to the west have picked up sniffs of more. But I don't know ship types, and I don't know where the KB went. It could easily have been to Truk and back by now and be hovering somewhere north or NE of Wake, for example.

My objective isn't so much to hurt him. I can't really right now. It's just to complicate his life, to introduce another planning dimension. The subs are one, and they're doing what they can with duds, but I need more. In the DEI and Asia I'm down to scraps of force and I want to save what I have for when it matters more. Christmas and Johnson are two possibilities, but he's not dumb and he has to have thought through the implications of making such an early move on Johnson. I don't think he'd hang it out there without backup. And I already screwed up at Palembang and threw away precious ships.

Must ponder.

[Bullwinkle58]

Alfred! Welcome!

Very interesting thoughts. I do think too much about the ships side of things.

A moose is nothing if not audacious, so trouble yourself not on that score. [;)]

Surprise? Have you not heard me sneaking across the kitchen toward the cookie jar? Cat feet ain't in it. So, no prob there.

Luck has been in short supply though.

Of the three you name, Wenchow he holds, and Clark is an open city essentially, with nothing but AA to defend it. He is bombing there daily. But Changsha is a bastion city. Supply is in the white at 16,200, but the AF is only a 3. There is also only 29 aviation support, but they could support a couple of days' flying. I have been building only forts, which are 4+. There is a five LCU stack one hex to the east; one of them is the LCU roughed up two turns ago. My intel is very weak, but the mouseover only shows about 4500 troops, which I don't believe.

Yenan is abandoned. There are only six LCUs still in the vicinity, and they're in move mode headed for Sian.

I have been mounting 16 B-17s from Batavia. They fly in two groups of 10/6. Morale is good and aircraft condition is fair. I gave them a 2-day stand-down one turn ago. I'd have to check on ranges and see if I would need to shuttle to Changsha. I could sneak through Clark I think, or maybe Singers if needed. Realistically I think this would be a hit & run set of raids due to av. support, maybe three days max, more likely two, but it could shake things up. I'd need to goose the AF size first.

I like this idea since it accomplishes the keep-him-off-balance objective. I figure sooner than later he's going to try to whack the Forts at Batavia. He's had many days of red vectors pointing at their origin now, and he is making a move on NW Borneo. I expect bombers there within a week.

I will seriously look at this. It is an excellent idea. I wish I could hit aircraft factories both psychologically as well as VP-wise, but that ship has sailed for now.

[BBfanboy]

I hope you don't have big plans for Colorado in 11 days - she comes out of repair on Jan. 1 and goes into January upgrade immediately [unless you turn it off]. I think the US old BBs are of limited value until they upgrade radars and AA, so I would let the upgrade go ahead.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

I hope you don't have big plans for Colorado in 11 days - she comes out of repair on Jan. 1 and goes into January upgrade immediately [unless you turn it off]. I think the US old BBs are of limited value until they upgrade radars and AA, so I would let the upgrade go ahead.

Good info. I think it might be on. I agree with you on the old BBs, except I never cared for them much, no matter the upgrades. They're fuel pigs, they're fragile, and they're slow. I use them if I need to, but I'd rather have a modern CA frankly. I'm not running them to the WC right now because having the DDs at Pearl is worth more right now.

[Bullwinkle58]

December 24, 1941

The Year Without A Christmas

The year draws close to an end. Children in some Allied nations prepare for Santa's visit. But alas, Christmas Island has fallen.

1) Better news in the sub wars. IJN I-boats penetrate Hilo and hit nothing. USN ASW platforms put at least one, and maybe two penetrating hits into I-175 off Kona. His subs are giving an inordinate amount of attention to the Big Island, and I have suspicions of why.

2) Why? Landings begin on Palmyra I.

Wiki sez: "Palmyra was sighted in 1798 by the American sea captain Edmund Fanning of Stonington, Connecticut while his ship, the Betsy, was sailing to Asia. According to the accounts, Fanning had awoken three times during the night before. On the third time, he took this as a premonition, and he ordered his first mate to heave to. On the next morning the ship resumed its travel, but she only went about a nautical mile before reaching the reef of Palmyra. Had the ship continued on her course at night, the ship might have been wrecked. On November 7, 1802, Captain Sawle and the U.S.S. Palmyra shipwrecked on the reef, which ultimately took the name of this vessel.

In 1859, Palmyra Atoll was claimed for the United States by Dr. Gerrit P. Judd of the brig Josephine, in accordance with the Guano Islands Act of 1856, but there was no guano there to be mined."

Well, I'm certainly in the guano there.

The Allied defenders put three 5 inchers into an xAK, but the 53rd Naval Guards begin to come ashore. The landing TF is two xAKs and two PBs. The shock attack does not go well for the Japanese:

Ground combat at Palmyra (170,133)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1424 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 59

Defending force 681 troops, 12 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 12

Japanese adjusted assault: 3

Allied adjusted defense: 10

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 2)

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
375 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
32 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled

Assaulting units:
53rd Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
Palmyra USN CPNAB
Palmyra (Det.) Defense Battalion

So, more of the pattern emerges. He has systematically closed off the west and southern sides of Hawaii. Not with much, but I can't respond with much either. He will shortly have patrols operating from his possessions which can see to Oahu and beyond, and re-supply ports for his subs. He will probably bring the AS forward from Kwajalein, or detail another to the task.

Will he attempt Midway? Is it necessary? I think he will. Midway left open is for the Allies what Palmyra is here. Eyes and supplies. I got a very light whiff of a sighting of something near Lihue, but in the next turn, which I have in hand, there is no icon. I have not searched the Ops report yet. But Midway is probably on the list, if not next then soon.

I have gotten some good advice about the defense of Hawaii (how's that for the passive voice? [:)]), and it boils down to: don't panic, but don't under any circumstances let him isolate you down to one air base. This is excellent advice, but easier said than done three weeks in. 8th Marine Reg. has been added to Hilo, but there's little on the WC which can load, and I have 93 PPs in the bank. (Nimitz ain't cheap to buy.)

If he tried to land at an inner island such as Molokai or Lihue I can sortie a surface response on a 1-day transit. He would probably position carrier support to the west or north, as I have little naval attack air at all, but DDs can usually dodge unless he alfa strikes a TF. Even so, I have a fairly decent surface roster at Pearl, and it's not as damaged as he might think. One thing I am pretty good at (blush) is juggling repair resources and yard capacities. Nevada, California, and Arizona could fight if needed, and my cruisers are getting better every day.

One series of decisions I must make soon is whether to invest escorts in getting the medium damaged BBs out of Pearl. I have been stripping cargo TFs of their escorts and giving them only one for the trip back to the WC. I have five new DDs at Pearl this week from this. He has at least one I-boat on the northern WC off Puget Sound. I might take a couple of BBs out with esocrts, aim them at the Canal for transit to EC, and strip the DDs off three days out and return them to Pearl. And hope he isn't covering the Canal wormhole. It's odd knowing that in two years I'll have 150 ultra-modern DDs hanging around looking for work, but right now two are precious.

3) Ground combat at Christmas Island (174,141)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1322 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 55

Defending force 737 troops, 2 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 23

Allied adjusted defense: 8

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Christmas Island !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)

Allied ground losses:
884 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 44 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 14 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
51st Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
Christmas USN CPNAB
E Det USN Port Svc

'Nuff said.

4) Landings begin at Kudat. Looks like a single SNLF.

5) Air attacks are routine and workmanlike, designed to stop fort building. Changsha, Singers (lose several planes here), Clark, Rangoon (sweeps only.) After Alfred's B-17 deployment suggestion yesterday I looked at Clark as a possible shuttle base. Before this turn it was 100/97 AF/runway damaged. And he hit it again today. Still, the idea of shifting the B-17s to a different role is appealing. Miri is harrassment and supply-for-repair, but no VPs. I should be playing for VPs. I could try for different Oil centers, but no VPs accrue unless the target is in the HI. Destroying aircraft does bring VPs though, and I suspect he has some AFs pretty near overstacked. I have to do some map work.

Merry Christmas. Next year's will be better.

[BBfanboy]

[:D]
Experience juggling shipyard/alongside repairs suggests similar experience in getting ships damaged ... [;)]