Rise of the Sheep! JocMeister(A) vs. Obvert(J)

[House Stark]

I assume that they would arrive directly on the ship so long as it's afloat. Is it possible to fly off aircraft if the ship is overloaded? The new groups will arrive at the end of the turn, so the carriers would be able to conduct operations during the combat phases.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: House Stark

I assume that they would arrive directly on the ship so long as it's afloat. Is it possible to fly off aircraft if the ship is overloaded? The new groups will arrive at the end of the turn, so the carriers would be able to conduct operations during the combat phases.

Didn´t think of that. Good point! [:)]

No now the question is narrowed down to if you can fly AC off from an overloaded CV? Anyone knows?

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: House Stark

I assume that they would arrive directly on the ship so long as it's afloat. Is it possible to fly off aircraft if the ship is overloaded? The new groups will arrive at the end of the turn, so the carriers would be able to conduct operations during the combat phases.

Didn´t think of that. Good point! [:)]

No now the question is narrowed down to if you can fly AC off from an overloaded CV? Anyone knows?

I believe you can.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]30th-31st December -44[/font]
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Not much happening.

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CVs
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I took the safe route and held the CVs back a bit to see what happens next turn. Lots of traffic going to and from Bangkok to Saigon. I should have seen this coming but though Erik might have made a deliberate stand at Bangkok and now I acted too late. Or possibly too late.

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Thailand
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The advance south continues. The spearhead intended for Indochina has just left Bangkok and been replaced by the Chinese.

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Luzon
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Waiting to dig in a bit before launching the next bombardment. I´m taking preparations to clear the sea and air to allow both naval and air bombardment if needed.

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Stratbombing
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A perfect day here! We strike Kobe/Osaka with only 1 loss!! [&o]

Night Air attack on Osaka/Kyoto , at 109,59

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J1N1-Sa Irving x 13
Ki-46-III KAI Dinah x 27

Allied aircraft
B-29-25 Superfort x 32

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-III KAI Dinah: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-29-25 Superfort: 13 damaged

Manpower hits 27
Fires 12875

Erik has sent too many NFs to Tokyo and the "small" night CAP here didn´t have time to get enough planes airborne. I got a lot of fires burning and 97 HI and 48 LI have already burned down with 3700 fires still burning. [&o] Together with the fires still burning at Tokyo I aquired over 800 VPs this turn. Thats a lot of stuff burning down!

I need more nights like this!

Sorry for the lack of screens lately. Theres just not much to show!

[JocMeister]

I just realized. This was the last turn in 1944. Tomorrow when I open the turn it will be...1945. Wow. [X(]

[Speedysteve]

Congrats Jocke. It's a 'special' time to get so far in the game. Not sure if you feel this too but in my game (which is 1 month behind yours) it feels strange to think it may actually be coming to and end soon after playing for so many years when it used to feel like the game would never end![;)]

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

I just realized. This was the last turn in 1944. Tomorrow when I open the turn it will be...1945. Wow. [X(]

And AEs unrep. [:)]

And VJ Day is seven months and change. [:'(]

[princep01]

Joc, if I recall correctly (and that is an iffy thing for me) you had some set backs early with your CVs.  If so, then achieving victory before the actual VJ date will be a signal accomplishment.  It is too early to crown you Admiral of the AE sea, but you do seem to be headed in that direction.  Keep up the pressure!
 
Nice job with the B-29s.  Engage the enemy more closely.  Hope the submariners can score a bunch of loaded AP/AKs departing Bangkok.

[JeffroK]

Have you tried aerial mining Bangkok (and japanese ports for that matter)

They seem to sneak in past any NF.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: princep01

Joc, if I recall correctly (and that is an iffy thing for me) you had some set backs early with your CVs.  If so, then achieving victory before the actual VJ date will be a signal accomplishment.  It is too early to crown you Admiral of the AE sea, but you do seem to be headed in that direction.  Keep up the pressure!

Nice job with the B-29s.  Engage the enemy more closely.  Hope the submariners can score a bunch of loaded AP/AKs departing Bangkok.

Hehe, setbacks is putting it mildly. I lost the entire USN with the exception of some CAs and the PH BBs still repairing after the PH attack. [:)]

I´m doubtful I can get to 2:1 before VJ day. I´m closing on 1.2:1 advantage. But it will be something to strive for. While "we don´t play for VPs" I would consider it a huge personal achievement if I did get there! a Its not entirely impossible considering I was at 1:1 just 60 turns ago.

Manila and Eriks superstack should be around 10k VPs alone. KB is another big chunk of VPs together with the entire IJ BB force. (Yamato was recently removed from the sunk list).

I´m going to try and summarize 1944 in a post tonight. 1944 was definitely an allied year. I can´t recall a single event that didn´t go the way I wanted when it comes to the big stuff! [:)]

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: JeffK

Have you tried aerial mining Bangkok (and japanese ports for that matter)

They seem to sneak in past any NF.

Good idea! Didn´t think of that. Not sure I have anything in range but I´ll check!

[koniu]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: JeffK

Have you tried aerial mining Bangkok (and japanese ports for that matter)

They seem to sneak in past any NF.

Good idea! Didn´t think of that. Not sure I have anything in range but I´ll check!

Air mining missions are immune to any CAP. They just pass it unmolested.[8|]
Strangely if You will escort mining bombers CAP will engage escort but again bombers will go unmolested.
I my game we ban air mining at day because it revile free intel about CAP in hex.

[witpqs]

I thought that changed in a Beta??

[koniu]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I thought that changed in a Beta??

I am playing latest beta and they still are immune to CAP.

[JocMeister]

If I´m going to do it its going to be by night. And I know for sure Erik doesn´t have any NFs there so no CAP dispositions are revealed. [:)]

Not even sure I can drop any mines there so it might be moot.

[JeffroK]

At least the B29 will drop mines, I'm not sure about which other 4E can and I'm sure Catalinas can.

Even if it makes him create minesweeper TF it will be an annoyance,

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]1st January 1945[/font]
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Well, what can I say. Never thought I would see that date on the display. I´ll to a summarize of 1944 in a separate post tonight. I think I´m going to have a beer and a scotch to celebrate a bit [:)]

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Luzon
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I´ve started to send up small 4 ship Fletcher TFs towards Manila to clear the sealanes. I wan´t to make Erik really nervous about having all those fighters stationed within reach of the naval guns!

Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 78,77, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
E Takashima, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
E Aotaka, Shell hits 1
E Wakataka, Shell hits 21, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Murray
DD Owen
DD Picking
DD William Porter

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Bataan at 78,77, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
E Aotaka, Shell hits 28, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Murray
DD Owen
DD Picking
DD William Porter

Last troops to participate in the Manila assault will arrive tomorrow. A bit worried about the whole deal. I hope the armor will continue to perform as fantastic as they have been. If they do I will secure Manila shortly. But this time Erik actually brought in some AT guns. I havn´t encountered this before. But I doubt he has 1000 AT guns...The 2 Tank Divisions shouldn´t be a problem but if forts are heavy they might still have a bite.

I´m far from comfortable. I don´t want a sustained siege here. I must overcome opposition quickly!


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Thailand
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We continue to make good process. Erik is definitively evacuating Bangkok by sea. So no Banzai stand here. That is not tolerable. The CVs have set sail towards the area. The squadrons didn´t arrive on any CV at sea thankfully. Only Bunker Hill repairing at the WC received the new squadron. Luckily I turned off all resizing on all CVs so we have a full deckload.

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Borneo
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As predicted Kudat was a bit to heavily defended. I set the shattered 4E groups at Iloilo to help out. There are only 8 squadrons with very low EXP but they managed to inflict some damage!

Morning Air attack on 63rd Infantry Brigade, at 69,86 (Kudat)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 3 [X(]
B-24J Liberator x 21
B-25D1 Mitchell x 41
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 23

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
121 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

As can be seen here the B17D flies combat mission for the first time since 1942. A testament to the appuling state of the Allied plane pools. Interesting enough I watched a documentary on the Schweinfurt raid last night. The Germans should have turned to the Japs for help. Going by the numbers in that raid Japanese fighters are about 5-8 times more effective in shooting down unescorted 4Es. Good thing the Germans didn´t know that...[;)]

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DEI
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A bit short on lifting and BFs here. Thats slowing down the advance a bit. I have come up with a solution though. Stay tuned...

[DOCUP]

Koniu is right CAP doesn't bother air mining missions. Any 4E and 2E can drop mines. Welcome to 45 Joc.

[JocMeister]

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Stratbombing
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Forgot to add. Despite the almost 3500 fires going at Osaka last night almost nothing burned down this turn. Still some fires going though but it seems the spectacular results at Tokyo isn´t repeatable in other cities.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]1944 - The past year[/font]
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Unfortunately due to a disc crash I couldn´t find a save from 1st January 44. I did find one from late november 43. Closest I could get so all comparisons will be based on that date. 1944 has been an allied year from start to finish. I´ve had some luck at crucial moments that certainly helped speed things up. And I learned tons of stuff. Going from the defensive in late 43 to a full fledged allied offensive in 44 was a hard transition for me.

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Burma
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This was to be the main allied theatre. After almost 10 months of complete stalemate the landing at Tavoy opened the whole front wide open. I was helped here by the complete absence of Japanese naval search and inadequate garrison. Erik then was too tardy in withdrawing from Moulmein and took the coastal road instead of the interior one. This ended up costing him the infamous superstack now stuck outside Tavoy. A combination of luck and not optimal play from Erik here really saved the day. If not I would probably still be at Tavoy. I have to tip my hat to Erik here though. He stalled the allied advance in Burma for 2 years. But in doing so he also left the Centpac and New Guinea open for advancement. Not sure it was the right thing to do. But I don´t envy having to do that balance act!

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New Guinea
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This is my proudest achievement. Its hard to imagine I was still stuck at PM a year ago. There were some crucial moments like the Sarmi invasion where the KB ended up only 2 hexes or so from the Amphibs. But the New Jersey and Iowa did exactly what they were supposed to and drew almost every single strike. I think I had 12 divisions working this route. Again I was helped but Eriks lack of troops in the theatre. He quite early moved out 2 divisions from the area and sent them to Burma. Two divisions at Sarmi and I would have been stopped dead. Remember that I had to do everything under LBA and KB constantly lurking outside NavSearch. So each base was absolutely critical or I couldn´t advance any further.

In late 44 I could jump to Sorong and then the Moluccas under CV cover. After the Moluccas was secured Erik sent in the KB seeking battle. This ended up with the KB having to retire with the allied CV fleet in control of the seas. I can´t remember the exact losses but I think I lost a CVE while the KB strike planes was annihilated for the 5th of 6th time. This led to the immediate invasion of Cotabato which was successful and Mindanao was secured 3 months earlier the my wildest dreams. This invasion did cost me as Erik managed to get in one of those silly 8 hex strikes for the second time (1st he did was in early 43 and that cost me the CV fleet). This time I only lost a british CVE though.

After Mindanao we managed to land on Luzon before 45 arrived. And now we are at the gates of Manila. [&o]

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CENTPAC
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Can´t really complain about this either. Very little effort were placed here in terms of troops and ships. I learned a HUGE amount about atoll attacks getting Baker/Canton and Wake back. Erik gave away Eniwetok for free. I did a early invasion of Tinian to draw troops away from Mindanao. Worked wonders and Erik send a lot of troops to the Marianas. I could then reclaim the Marianas in late 44 when I had enough troops for it. Having the CENTPAC LOC open helps a lot cutting transit times to a third.

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DEI
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This has always been a sideshow. Advance is going beyond expectations since Erik has abandoned to whole area. I have only 4 divisions here.

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Summarization
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I think I have done very well. I came back from almost nothing. I´ve become a lot more cynical about the game but it has made me a better player. I see this purely as a game now and don´t really care too much about "history". Some things still get to me but I have an easier time to adapt to it now. I also think I developed a better sense of what works and what doesn´t. I hope to take all the lessons from this game and apply it to my other game vs Joseph. Not many players have managed to play a PBEM into 45. I´m proud of the achievement and I hope we will see this to the end.

Here is a screen of the score from 19.11.45 and 1.1.45. As can be seen I have increased my VPs by a staggering 45.000 VPs in 13 months. Compare that to the Japanese increases of only 15.000. The difference is quite remarkable? Makes me feel kind of good at least. [:)]