Command Decisions: Yeomen vs. Samurai RA 6.4

[catwhoorg]

Tahiti makes a decent fueling spot for diverted convoys.

Buildable to level 5 port and level 6 airfield.


If he drives south to Soamoa, you can run Tahiti to Dunedin, that takes the convoys well South.

[larryfulkerson]

It's 19:26 local on Christmas day and John mailed the moves to me earlier this morning ( or was it late last night? ) and I'm going
through the TF's deciding which to divert and which to leave alone and I found a USN TF that appears to be a convoy of damaged
BB's to Alameda and the shipyard there. I hope it gets there okie dokie.

[larryfulkerson]

It looks like Jim is going to risk a CM to lay 100 mines on Canton island's port. Well, good for him. I like this idea.

[CaptBeefheart]

Merry Christmas, gents. Have you set up a Cape Town to Oz convoy run yet? Each time I play this game I put more emphasis into that supply/fuel channel.

Cheers,
CC

[Simonsez]

Conventional wisdom typically leaves warships in at least pierside repair until systems damage is down to zero before attempting any long distance, open ocean transits. Remember that 25% systems damage means that in effect, 25% of your damage control is not working (I'm sure th actual math is more complicated, but still a major risk).

Only Ole Miss is ready to go to the West Coast at this time, I would recommend that the others stay in pierside repair until systems damge is down to zero before they transit. Once in transit to the West Coast, you have no safe harbors to duck into should floatation damage increase in transit. I don't understand the need and risk you are assuming to move them at this time. Is there a battleship parade in San Francisco Harbor that they might miss? [&:]

[Simonsez]

It looks like Jim is going to risk a CM to lay 100 mines on Canton island's port. Well, good for him. I like this idea.

Why? [&:]

Think about this. Is Canton Is. worth 100 mines and will that stop your opponent from taking the Island? It might make you feel good if something hits a random mine, but isn't your team taking a layered, defense in depth possibility away from another, more critical location? What about 100 mines at Midway since you have reinforced there? Or, wouldn't those mines be better at Johnston, Palmyra, Pago Pago, Suva, Nadi or Tahiti - maybe combined with another 100 mines? Maybe backed up by CD guns, significant troops, air and sea assests? This action smells alot like a "I've got to do something, somewhere." response that is natural for the Allies in this phase of the game. I don't see a strategy in this decision and to me that means you are just wasting more of the precious few assets the Allies have at the beginning of the game.

[Mike McCreery]

Jon has already taken Canton so I can only imagine it is to interdict his use of it.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr
Jon has already taken Canton so I can only imagine it is to interdict his use of it.

Yeah, I was going to say, the Japs already have Canton island so Jim putting some mines there w/ his CM is supposed to sink any
AK's or AP's that come to supply the island or something like that. I would have done the same thing Jim is doing. And yes, it
probably is being done out of the need to do "something" rather than nothing at all. The USN is going to get CM's out their ears and
if the mines being laid sink just one Jap ship it's worth it to me.

ORIGINAL: Commander Cody
Merry Christmas, gents. Have you set up a Cape Town to Oz convoy run yet? Each time I play this game I put more emphasis into that supply/fuel channel.

Yes I have. And there are already a bunch of ships in the pipeline and Perth is due to be getting it's first shipment in a day or two.
And yes, I like this route as it's almost free of IJN subs. The route from Colombo to Perth is worrying. That's a long way in dangerous
waters. I'm thinking of sending them to Cape Town first and then to Perth to take advantage of the safer route.

[Mike McCreery]

I like to run the perth route REALLY far south and across and back up north to Perth.

Jon will raid this area during the war at some time.

[larryfulkerson]

OK. I've gotten some moves from John and I watched the combat replay and there was this one surface action at Canton island that
caught the Japs off guard and sank a couple of ships.

[larryfulkerson]

And here's an event where John bombards Oosthaven.

[larryfulkerson]

Jim and I lost some B-17's when this base folded.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

OK. I've gotten some moves from John and I watched the combat replay and there was this one surface action at Canton island that
caught the Japs off guard and sank a couple of ships.

You boys are not going quietly into the night!

[larryfulkerson]

There's three tankers and a bunch of AK's carrying about 38K barrels of fuel to Colombo but I think, since it's got to go to Perth anyway,
I think I'm going to send them to Cape Town when they appear on the map just to get them off the map again. And then from Cape Town
to Perth using a small amount of fuel in the process. Sounds good.

[larryfulkerson]

I've got a medium size collection of smaller ships and they are as good as sunk even now but to get some further use out of them I'm
moving them to Tarakan to use them as bait for the fighters there. Maybe I'll get a Jap plane or two out of this deal. There's virtually
no chance for them to make it to Soerabaja or Darwin. Jap planes would sink them somewhere.

[Encircled]

Hi Larry, judging by that screen shot the planes at Tarakan are either bombers or floatplanes.

Rather than having them in a bunch to be sunk at the Japanese players leisure, why don't you scatter them and run them in single ship TF's to try to make safety?

BTW, if John is attempting to isolate Oz, he's probably going to be sending a fair few subs to take station of Perth, so you are going to need ASW assets down there.

Good hit with that TF at Canton, that looks like some Air Support thats now on the bottom of the sea!

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Encircled
Hi Larry, judging by that screen shot the planes at Tarakan are either bombers or floatplanes.

Now that you've said that I'm not sure but I thought that they were Dutch fighters and some German-built seaplanes.

ORIGINAL: Encircled
Rather than having them in a bunch to be sunk at the Japanese players leisure, why don't you scatter them and run them in single ship TF's to try to make safety?

I didn't know if we're still in the "early" phase of the game since the house rule was no single-ship TF's except for the early phase of
the game. It just seemed "gamey" to me to put them into singlet formations.

ORIGINAL: Encircled
BTW, if John is attempting to isolate Oz, he's probably going to be sending a fair few subs to take station of Perth, so you are going to need ASW assets down there.

And those are hard to come by right about now. I'll see what I can do to scrape up some DD's or something.

ORIGINAL: Encircled
Good hit with that TF at Canton, that looks like some Air Support thats now on the bottom of the sea!

That was Jim's idea. He's pretty handy to have around. Especially lately.

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson
I didn't know if we're still in the "early" phase of the game since the house rule was no single-ship TF's except for the early phase of
the game. It just seemed "gamey" to me to put them into singlet formations.

It doesn't seem remotely gamey for merchies to flee the DEI in Dec 41. Most of them probably weren't even under military control. Considering the alternative would be internment in a camp or death or both, it would be the only rational decision.

Even so, you guys were organized enough to list your house rules:

The use of One ship TF is allowed if the ships are warships or it is the first two weeks of December 1941 (the fleeing Thundering Herd).

First two weeks of December might mean through Dec 14 or it might mean first two weeks after the starting whistle (Dec 21). Either way, you seem to be past it.

Of course, you could put them in TWO-ship convoys. [:)]

[Cap Mandrake]

Also, the game date is the same as the actual date. Congratulations!

[Lecivius]

"I didn't know if we're still in the "early" phase of the game since the house rule was no single-ship TF's except for the early phase of
the game. It just seemed "gamey" to me to put them into singlet formations. "

It's your call. Wisdom states if it feels gamey, it probably is. But IMHO, this is still "early phase".

My 2 cents.