Islands of Destiny: RA 5.0 Japanese Side

[janh]

This silence... is nerve wrecking! It's been since PzB's game that I have been waiting that much for seeing other player's turn results! Damn, John, sink the whole Allied fleet and whip the intruders off the shores of Sabang!

[John 3rd]

Hi Guys.

Sorry for the extended silence. I haven't logged onto the Forum for nearly 4 days. Cannot remember when I last had that happen.

JohnD: Do not worry about this. I think it is a great complement that Dan and I have so many readers and that these unintentional lapses do occur. I got fully appraised of the night bombing topic and potential security breach that happened. Dan wrote me and we exchanged several emails regarding the topic and feel fine with the result of our conversation. IT IS OK! No harm no foul. You can probably take that REDICULOUS hamster picture off your avatar! Appreciate you Posting over here on this AAR.

The intensity of this game has been something to see. My guessing where Dan was going several times and then getting it so TOTALLY WRONG on this Sumatra Landing is something. I have spent hours just daydreaming and THINKING about each turn without the time to actually get it done. I am LOVING AND HATING every turn right now. Sent this to Dan a couple of days ago:

My file fix didn’t fix anything that needed dealt with. Hmmm..gonna have to figure this out. (This refers to the CS--CVL Air Groups)

This game has driven me nuts from the start. You watched that turn. KB sends in 124 Zero escorting all those Kates and they don’t do CRAP! 124 ELITE pilots vs. 34 Fighters. You shouldn’t have had a single plane left after the ATA, however, I lose a batch of Kates while—I guess—their escorts perform acrobatics. Cannot catch a break at all. Sorry—venting some...

Everything is so rushed. I feel like your getting a B- game from me because I cannot spend my whole attention on you and this match. I apologize if you feel let down. I know you don’t but I feel like it.


Besides the WHINING I did in the middle of that email (YES I got a match-up of 124 Zeros from the KB escorting 180+ Kates that evidently did NOTHING as 34 Fighters ripped into my Kates shooting down nearly 30 of them. GOOD LORD! ) there is serious content at the end. Need to be bluntly honest here for the readership. I have NO TIME for this game right now. Reasoning:

1. My staff is falling apart at the store presently. Am on a pace for 50-60 hours this week due to my Ass't Manager being pregnant and dealing with horrible morning sickness AND I have the entire family home everyday.
2. Paula and I just bought an Apartment Building so she will be the landlord of it, however, she's home all the time presently as are the boys. While I like this, the stress from work and TRYING to get in a turn is driving me nuts. I cannot get anytime ALONE when home (right now my wife is coming down the stairs talking and John is calling my name from upstairs).
3. The caboose restoration MUST be farther along by Friday when we are Hosting a BBQ and the local La Salle Days weekend celebration begins. We're opening it on Saturday.
4. Both Dan and I both have several short trips coming up prior to school getting starting.
5. Desperately need to fix issues in this Mod (CS--CVL Air Groups) as well as get RA 6.0 complete.

He and I are both career minded and family men. Only real difference is he OWNS his job and can do whatever he wants when he wants. Would love to have that problem. REALLY recommend his magazine Georgia Backroads! He sent us a perusal copy and it is delightful. Planning on getting a subscription. ANYWAY---I am going to shock him and layout a phone call to talk to him.

School starts August 12th. My proposal to him is that we halt the game until the that week when the boys go back to school and Paula re-starts her part-time work at the School District. Time will open up at that point and I won't feel constantly interrupted and cheating the boys or work or Paula for time to get in a rushed and below playing standard turn. Does this make sense? I hope it does.

Right now I feel like I am totally at odds with AE. This applies to the game here as well as my slow-moving game vs. Viperpol. Perhaps it is the edge of burnout? Don't know. I LOVE this match and this game. It is such a great thing to have this creation guys. We are blessed by the creators of it and our Moderators. Don't think they hear it often enough but they have created a masterpiece and oversee one heck of an unruly bunch of players! I've been playing this ever since I bought Uncommon Valor and joined the Forum ten+ years ago. (I was originally John III for two years but had to recreate my sign-in after some sort of computer crash).

[John 3rd]

Just called and MISSED him. No one TALK TO HIM PLEASE!

Emailed with this message:


I just called your office Sir so we could chat. Wanted to STUN you and gain Strategic Surprise but failed. Spoke with a nice lady though.

Left a message for you to call. If you get the chance please call me at ___________. Have got to run an errand or two right now so—while your at lunch—I’ll try to get those done.
John

[John 3rd]

Contact has been made with Georgia and we are all good. The game shall pause until I can get life straightened out a bit.

We will finish the current turn with Posts detailing the action and then pause at that point.

I have 'known' this man for over a decade and never spoken to him. What a delightful experience!

[pws1225]

Good to hear and Dan see eye to eye. I look forward to your post then will tune in again in mid-August. And good luck with all the RL stuff. Sooner or later things gotta get back to normal.

[John 3rd]

Thanks Sir! Feel like I am letting down the readership with this...

[pws1225]

While we'll miss the daily updates, I think we would all agree that a good game played more slowly is more entertaining than a fast game played poorly. So go forth, do good work, then come back and kick Dan's butt!

[JohnDillworth]

Contact has been made with Georgia and we are all good. The game shall pause until I can get life straightened out a bit.

We will finish the current turn with Posts detailing the action and then pause at that point.

I have 'known' this man for over a decade and never spoken to him. What a delightful experience!

While I will miss the updates I fully understand. I don't believe either one of you will stay away for long but it sure looks like you have a full dance card.
Enjoy your summer!

[JohnDillworth]

OK, someone tell Greyjoy he has to get his game back in gear!

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

OK, someone tell Greyjoy he has to get his game back in gear!

Brad is coming back from Europe Tomorrow....[8D]

[JohnDillworth]

Brad is coming back from Europe Tomorrow....

Thanks! I love when a plan comes together!

[House Stark]

John, you're not letting down your readers by taking a break from the game until you have time to play. If you don't have the time to play the game properly and enjoy it, no one-you, Dan, spectators on both AARs-will be satisfied. Take your time and strike back hard! I'm sure readers don't want the game ending in early 1943 due to you rushing turns and botching your counterattack.

[morejeffs]

Hi John.

Your PM mailbox is full..Just thought you should know.

[John 3rd]

Deleted a bunch of stuff from my In Box so it should be OK.

[morejeffs]

Thanks..

Yes I was able to send a PM.

[ny59giants]

Just a 'friendly' FYI, I'm on day 2 of VACATION!! [:D]

[John 3rd]

Just an FYI for the readers. Am about halfway through my own 'oath of AE celibacy' and life is crazy as ever. Plan to work on RA 6.0 during the evenings this week prior to a 4-5 day family vacation where we ride the Geogetown Loop and Durango to Silverton steam trains. School starts on August 12th and hope to recommence at that point. Need to run the last turn sent by Dan so I can Post here and talk planning as well as ideas. Will do that at some point this week as well.

Thoughts you guys would want to know!

[morejeffs]

PM sent.
Do tell of RA 6 though!

[John 3rd]

Done.

Details for RA 6.0 are over in the Development Thread. Any RA players are welcome to contribute to that discussion. In particular, I want ALLIED RA Player input.

[John 3rd]

Combat Report
Dec 1-3, 1942

OK. Long awaited turns and combat report from dan and I's game. Have sat on this turn since my hiatus kicked in roughly 2-3 weeks ago. This is not fair to Dan so I wanted to get it cranked out and back to him so he can plan for the next several weeks how to finish me off.

We shall do a thorough around-the-horn report.

North Pacific
NO activity. I have relocated everything that I want and now we sit and dig-in.

Central Pacific
This region has not been forgotten in everything. Have several Convoys moving troops, supply, and fuel to needed locations.

Have substantial forces (including Infantry) deployed in the Marianas in case he get totally NUTS with something else crazy.

South Pacific
Troop Convoys have started arriving to pick-up the second lift of Japanese troops for Sumatra. On the 3rd begin loading the ID stationed at Horn Island. In a few more days I'll do the same with another ID at PM. These bases will not be left undefended. Each has a regiment or brigade still present.

Move my aircraft around to central locations so they can train and be ready for any sort of move. Still have a balanced force of about 250 planes operating in Lae, Rabaul, and Lunga.

He has been hitting Tagula with B-17/B-24 and they have been paying for it. I moved a Daitai of Zero and Sentai of Tojos there. Those Fighters are bagging several planes a day as well as damaging craploads of them. Operational losses have got to be pretty high for those planes.

DEI
Manila is now my Port of choice for Oil and Resources TF. There was a temporary disruption when Dan landed at Sumatra, however, things have returned to a reasonably normal state--for the moment.

Singapore
I note this base because it has over 300 planes in it and I am using its large Repair facilities to work on damaged warships. Currently there are 3 BB, 3 CA, and 5-7 DDs getting repaired. The base is guarded by 125 Fighters and 4 AA Units.

Sumatra
Sibolga
We left off with my landing the 2nd ID at Sibolga. The ID has fully landed and is still pretty disrupted. Going to give it 4-5 days before launching an attack upon the unit fragments present here. The base gets hit by 6 CA on 1st and 4 BC on the 2nd. They do nice damage. About 150 bombers are hitting the troops and base as well.

45,79
NE of Sibolga sees the Japanese 10th ID smash two Marine Regiments (9th and 21st) in a 10-1 assault. The units retreat SW of Tand???. Order the 10th to move SW and get to Sibolga to help blast the Allies from that base in conjunction with the 2nd ID. Once this is done, I shall use Sibolga as a left shoulder as those two ID, plus another arriving in 5-6 days, move out and head for Langsa to cutoff the troops at medan.

Medan
The improvised defense of this base finally collapses on December 3rd. The fragments of 4th ID and Imperial Guards put up one heck of a fight facing the 1st Marine Div, 20th Indian Div, 32nd US ID, and 27th ID. The Allied troops were nailed everyday by nearly 400 bombers and these attacks managed to keep the AV down pretty well. These ID must be a mess!

He will immediately RR base forces here and bring in PT Boats by the score. The AF is at 2 and so he won't be a threat for a few days. Sweep it with 200 Tojo tomorrow. We'll see what he has in mind.

Tand???
Forts move within a few days of 4. Have a fresh ID unloading presently covered by BB Yamato, a CA, and 9 DD. The Div is 2/3 unloaded and in good shape. The Base have an AV of 450 presently and that should climb by another 100 or so with the convoy unloading. THINK this base will hold vs what Dan is bringing. For victory--HE MUST TAKE THIS BASE. We will draw him south where my bombers can keep whacking at them and I can bombard the shoreline.

Siberoet
Plan to take Siberoet tomorrow. Have 1 BB, 6 CA, and 4 BC scheduled to bombard it as well as 600 bombers. Once I grab that, then we move up to Nias (next to Sibolga).

Malaya
Port Blair
My staunch CAP of Tojo and Nicks appear to have had their effect upon the 4EB that were hitting this base. Move back 60 Betty and 27 Vals to hit some convoys moving SE from Columbo.

Victoria Point
Several ineffective bombardments of this location have allowed it to become operational again. Move in 54 Zero, 72 Kate, and 72 Val. ANYTHING coming close shall be PUNISHED!

Alor Star
A fragment of the Imperial Guards moved into the Alor Star hex and Dan hasn't even tried to bombard it. GREAT! The 48th ID will arrive at Singora tomorrow and then move SE to blast the two units kicked out of there previously. The 48th will then entrain and move to Taiping where it will then move up and take the Allied base and drive the 18th ID into the sea.

Burma
Am positioning my troops for a counterattack. Dan is bunching up his units in that clear terrain west of the Irrawaddy. I have 4 ID and 2nd TK at full strength. His fighters are all concentrated down at Sabang so my Zero and Tojo are eating his B-25 and Blenheims ALIVE. Bagged over 30 of these planes on Dec 3rd alone. Was nice to watch.

China
In some POSITIVE news, I achieved tactical surprise at Kweilin! Had 2 ID present with 3-4 Artie unit forever. The China AF has been hitting the AF and troops there for months. Think Dan got rather lax and focused on Sumatra while I slipped in THREE more Infantry Divisions. The day after they arrived I truly rolled the dice and ordered a SHOCK ATTACK against 12 Chinese units. Scored a 2-1 and suffered 5,000 Casualties. The IDs were in great shape though and I said WHY NOT??!! Ordered a second Shock Attack on the Dec 1st and BLASTED the Chinese out with a 7-1 result! BANZAI! The Japanese lose another 2,800 troops but the Chinese are crushed as they take 16,885 casualties. The losses are staggering for China: 745 Combat Squads, 795 Non-Combat, 48 Engineers, and 63 Guns. BANZAI!

Time to go of the offensive here. We want to do the following:
1. Clear the Railroad.
2. Force another retreat or two on the stack that was pushed out to the north.
3. Order 2 ID and 3 TK Regiments to move NW and attack going up that road.

Mod Issues
I am mad as a hornet in that I have all three CS--CVL Conversions coming in without ANY planes. Mizuho is complete and Chitose/Chiyoda will arrive in 10 Days. NO PLANES! I've tried to fix the Mod but nothing works. Crap, CRAP, CRAAAAAP!

It is a Mod and I shall attempt to enhance my calm...

That is the news.

Here is Medan's Fall.