HI CaptDave
I would suggest a heavy investment in Chittagong. I consider this base to the critical back door to Burma. Maybe a 1000 AV and a CD unit as a minimum? And of course Diamond Harbour.
Cheers
Guy
Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
-
guytipton41
- Posts: 351
- Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 4:01 am
- Location: Houston, TX
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
Thanks for the input, Guy. I'll look at what's feasible how quickly when I get the turn back.
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
884
12/26/41
China
We'll start with China. It's very frustrating that 64 Chinese Corps was in hex 072,057 and had move about halfway to the northwest, then retreated southwest toward Pakhoi when defeated in battle. The unit is suffering from some fatigue, but rather than having them trapped in Pakhoi we're sending them immediately to the northwest (a jungle hex along the Indochina border). There is a slight supply problem; Pakhoi itself has 3 supply points and 64 Chinese Corps is below its desired level. We will do a one-time supply lift from Kweilin, which isn't exactly swimming in them, to support the 64th's survival. We need to remember to turn off this mission next turn!
We have three units in Wuchow -- 13 Chinese BF, 16 Grp Army, and 2 Prov Chinese Corps -- that have moved 32 of 46 miles toward the hex to the northwest. The Japanese 23 Army bombarded, revealing that enemy strength is roughly double ours. Our base force is suffering some fatigue, but the other two units are in good shape. If they can all get to the next hex they'll join 62 Chinese Corps for added defense. Their eventual destination is Kwailin, but the immediate goal is to get into better defensive terrain.
A sizable stack of units is in Kukong, waiting for isolated single units to gather with them. There don't appear to be enemy LCUs in position to ambush us in Kukong, although given our track record with reconnaissance we won't rely on this assessment.
Numerous units to the east of Kukong (generally east, not due east) continue to move westward. At present they're so spread out that this isn't a cohesive movement, but as they come together we plan to coalesce them into one or two moderate stacks. Our strategy, such as it is, is to have sizable stacks for defense until they are far enough west that a broad front is desirable (in suitable terrain). While they're still crossing the plains, though, there is strength in numbers.
The only other significant activity in China right now is in Changsha. Each side has 10 units stacked in Changsha and the Japanese have been bombarding every day. Our units are showing very little fatigue and no disruption, and we have superior numbers, so we're standing pat. If nothing else, we're tying down a number of enemy units that aren't annoying us somewhere else.
Burma
David is starting to show a little interest in the Burma theater, but we may be ahead of the game here. We have four units already in Moulmein, another only a day or two away, and a sixth that will arrive in about a week. In the meantime we have shipborne troops on the way, as well, and the only enemy unit appears to also be about a week from Moulmein (again, assuming there aren't others we haven't spotted). To date enemy air activity in the theater has been confined to recon but we have a reasonable CAP at Rangoon.
What is annoying is the SS that showed up at the Irrawaddy Delta and sank an empty transport, despite the presence of ASW patrols. Investigation revealed that the two ASW forces had been issued orders not to react, so they blithely ignored the activity 40NM away. This state of affairs has been remedied, but it's not likely the enemy will stick around to be clobbered.
Malaya
In Malaya we have some troops cut off in Temuloh and they may have to be sacrificed for the cause. They will continue moving toward the south, of course, but may not make it. The units in the hex northeast of Temuloh are pretty much doomed -- one has a single support squad left and the other is a low-strength infantry brigade. Both stacks are favorite targets of enemy air, so once again we view the situation as a welcome distraction of enemy attention.
We, in turn, are doing quite well in our air attacks on enemy units in Malacca and Kuala Lumpur. Daily casualties are reported to be just under a hundred, which for a ground attack mission is fairly respectable. We have no idea what effect we're having on soft factors, of course, but we'll be happy if we're increasing fatigue or disruption or decreasing morale.
Sumatra
I haven't discussed Sumatra in the past because nothing's really happening there. The Japanese took Palembang before we could even identify potential units to defend it, but no other major action has taken place. They've taken a couple of small bases by osmosis, and one unit is marching across the island toward Benkoelen. Of greater concern is a task force near Nias consisting of cruisers and APDs. If our task forth farther north doesn't get a move on, it will be in danger of being intercepted.
Borneo
Events on Borneo have proceeded in standard fashion. The Japanese have taken the coastal bases from Pontianak wrapping around to Kuching, along with Miri and Brunei. Tarakan fell yesterday. The ground forces either surrendered or retreated to Tandjoengselor, whence we'll attempt air evacuation to the extent possible (using amphibians, given the size 0 airfield). Otherwise we have no specific plans for the island at this point.
Celebes
Also as fairly normal, Manado fell fairly early. No additional action has taken place. It's about time we send a recon flight over Manado just to get some idea of what the enemy has there.
Philippines
The vise is closing on the Central Triangle -- Clark Field, Manila, and Bataan -- but slowly. A large number of enemy units are located at Clark Field, and we took the opportunity to attack before they could build up to critical mass. We ended up with 1:23 odds, so it looks like it's time to evacuate the airfield. We'll send the bombers far away and the fighters over to Manila to maintain some air defense. There is currently no threat at the southern end of Luzon, and we'll start consolidating our ground forces while we can.
On Mindanao, Davao and Dadjangas have already fallen. Cotabato was invaded yesterday and isn't likely to last beyond the first battle. We evacuated the aircraft from Cagayan a few days ago and the only airplane still there is being repaired.
New Guinea, its Environs, and the Coral Sea
Coastwatchers keep reporting empty harbors at Rabaul and Kavieng, but there is so much red on the map at Rabaul that you can barely see the base. There have been no moves to date on Port Moresby, and we're working slowly to reinforce it -- hopefully without being detected. A transport TF is on its way to Gasmata to extract our troops that were kicked out of Rabaul.
Another Japanese task force is off the coast at Shortlands, presumably carrying an invasion force. We have nothing with which to fight back, so we really have no choice but to let it go. What we will do, though, is look at the possibility of deploying fighting forces in the southern end of the Coral Sea to discourage the enemy from proceeding too far.
We have had reports of a submarine at Noumea, but these are so far unconfirmed. We'll be working to protect our forces crossing between New Zealand and Australia, particularly the CVs now at Auckland.
Central and South Pacific
Activity in this theater has been notably lacking. Japanese submarines have harrassed us around Suva, Palmyra, and Christmas Island, and Nauru Island was taken early. Ocean Island and Tarawa, other typical targets, are still in our possession with no obvious direct threat. Our intent is to build up Palmyra and Christmas Island as intermediate staging bases for aircraft and task forces with insufficient range to reach the southwest. We do have a number of submarine patrols around the Marshall Islands. We also just received a report of a transport heading to Kwajalein Island, though we don't know where it is right now, so we'll see who gets there first.
Aleutian Islands
No update since my last report.
Indian Ocean
One Japanese submarine has made its way into the area and torpedoed a tanker near Cochin. We have ASW patrols in the general vicinity, but in this case the vicinity is just a bit too general. Our practice has been to have them escort the transport TFs through the area, but this time they hadn't yet made the linkup.
Japanese air patrols were spotted yesterday over Port Blair, and our reinforcements are 2 days out. We'll move some fighters there to provide CAP.
Otherwise, things are quiet in this area. Our supply ships have arrived and are unloading at Addu; other task forces are moving fuel and supplies to Colombo, Cochin, Trincomalee, Karachi, and Bombay. SS TRUANT just arrived in Aden and will be deployed anon. As noted, we will build up Chittagong along with the other bases on the perimeter of the ocean.
General Comments
This is the second long post in a row, but between the two I think they give a pretty detailed idea of where things stand. Comments and questions are always welcome!
12/26/41
China
We'll start with China. It's very frustrating that 64 Chinese Corps was in hex 072,057 and had move about halfway to the northwest, then retreated southwest toward Pakhoi when defeated in battle. The unit is suffering from some fatigue, but rather than having them trapped in Pakhoi we're sending them immediately to the northwest (a jungle hex along the Indochina border). There is a slight supply problem; Pakhoi itself has 3 supply points and 64 Chinese Corps is below its desired level. We will do a one-time supply lift from Kweilin, which isn't exactly swimming in them, to support the 64th's survival. We need to remember to turn off this mission next turn!
We have three units in Wuchow -- 13 Chinese BF, 16 Grp Army, and 2 Prov Chinese Corps -- that have moved 32 of 46 miles toward the hex to the northwest. The Japanese 23 Army bombarded, revealing that enemy strength is roughly double ours. Our base force is suffering some fatigue, but the other two units are in good shape. If they can all get to the next hex they'll join 62 Chinese Corps for added defense. Their eventual destination is Kwailin, but the immediate goal is to get into better defensive terrain.
A sizable stack of units is in Kukong, waiting for isolated single units to gather with them. There don't appear to be enemy LCUs in position to ambush us in Kukong, although given our track record with reconnaissance we won't rely on this assessment.
Numerous units to the east of Kukong (generally east, not due east) continue to move westward. At present they're so spread out that this isn't a cohesive movement, but as they come together we plan to coalesce them into one or two moderate stacks. Our strategy, such as it is, is to have sizable stacks for defense until they are far enough west that a broad front is desirable (in suitable terrain). While they're still crossing the plains, though, there is strength in numbers.
The only other significant activity in China right now is in Changsha. Each side has 10 units stacked in Changsha and the Japanese have been bombarding every day. Our units are showing very little fatigue and no disruption, and we have superior numbers, so we're standing pat. If nothing else, we're tying down a number of enemy units that aren't annoying us somewhere else.
Burma
David is starting to show a little interest in the Burma theater, but we may be ahead of the game here. We have four units already in Moulmein, another only a day or two away, and a sixth that will arrive in about a week. In the meantime we have shipborne troops on the way, as well, and the only enemy unit appears to also be about a week from Moulmein (again, assuming there aren't others we haven't spotted). To date enemy air activity in the theater has been confined to recon but we have a reasonable CAP at Rangoon.
What is annoying is the SS that showed up at the Irrawaddy Delta and sank an empty transport, despite the presence of ASW patrols. Investigation revealed that the two ASW forces had been issued orders not to react, so they blithely ignored the activity 40NM away. This state of affairs has been remedied, but it's not likely the enemy will stick around to be clobbered.
Malaya
In Malaya we have some troops cut off in Temuloh and they may have to be sacrificed for the cause. They will continue moving toward the south, of course, but may not make it. The units in the hex northeast of Temuloh are pretty much doomed -- one has a single support squad left and the other is a low-strength infantry brigade. Both stacks are favorite targets of enemy air, so once again we view the situation as a welcome distraction of enemy attention.
We, in turn, are doing quite well in our air attacks on enemy units in Malacca and Kuala Lumpur. Daily casualties are reported to be just under a hundred, which for a ground attack mission is fairly respectable. We have no idea what effect we're having on soft factors, of course, but we'll be happy if we're increasing fatigue or disruption or decreasing morale.
Sumatra
I haven't discussed Sumatra in the past because nothing's really happening there. The Japanese took Palembang before we could even identify potential units to defend it, but no other major action has taken place. They've taken a couple of small bases by osmosis, and one unit is marching across the island toward Benkoelen. Of greater concern is a task force near Nias consisting of cruisers and APDs. If our task forth farther north doesn't get a move on, it will be in danger of being intercepted.
Borneo
Events on Borneo have proceeded in standard fashion. The Japanese have taken the coastal bases from Pontianak wrapping around to Kuching, along with Miri and Brunei. Tarakan fell yesterday. The ground forces either surrendered or retreated to Tandjoengselor, whence we'll attempt air evacuation to the extent possible (using amphibians, given the size 0 airfield). Otherwise we have no specific plans for the island at this point.
Celebes
Also as fairly normal, Manado fell fairly early. No additional action has taken place. It's about time we send a recon flight over Manado just to get some idea of what the enemy has there.
Philippines
The vise is closing on the Central Triangle -- Clark Field, Manila, and Bataan -- but slowly. A large number of enemy units are located at Clark Field, and we took the opportunity to attack before they could build up to critical mass. We ended up with 1:23 odds, so it looks like it's time to evacuate the airfield. We'll send the bombers far away and the fighters over to Manila to maintain some air defense. There is currently no threat at the southern end of Luzon, and we'll start consolidating our ground forces while we can.
On Mindanao, Davao and Dadjangas have already fallen. Cotabato was invaded yesterday and isn't likely to last beyond the first battle. We evacuated the aircraft from Cagayan a few days ago and the only airplane still there is being repaired.
New Guinea, its Environs, and the Coral Sea
Coastwatchers keep reporting empty harbors at Rabaul and Kavieng, but there is so much red on the map at Rabaul that you can barely see the base. There have been no moves to date on Port Moresby, and we're working slowly to reinforce it -- hopefully without being detected. A transport TF is on its way to Gasmata to extract our troops that were kicked out of Rabaul.
Another Japanese task force is off the coast at Shortlands, presumably carrying an invasion force. We have nothing with which to fight back, so we really have no choice but to let it go. What we will do, though, is look at the possibility of deploying fighting forces in the southern end of the Coral Sea to discourage the enemy from proceeding too far.
We have had reports of a submarine at Noumea, but these are so far unconfirmed. We'll be working to protect our forces crossing between New Zealand and Australia, particularly the CVs now at Auckland.
Central and South Pacific
Activity in this theater has been notably lacking. Japanese submarines have harrassed us around Suva, Palmyra, and Christmas Island, and Nauru Island was taken early. Ocean Island and Tarawa, other typical targets, are still in our possession with no obvious direct threat. Our intent is to build up Palmyra and Christmas Island as intermediate staging bases for aircraft and task forces with insufficient range to reach the southwest. We do have a number of submarine patrols around the Marshall Islands. We also just received a report of a transport heading to Kwajalein Island, though we don't know where it is right now, so we'll see who gets there first.
Aleutian Islands
No update since my last report.
Indian Ocean
One Japanese submarine has made its way into the area and torpedoed a tanker near Cochin. We have ASW patrols in the general vicinity, but in this case the vicinity is just a bit too general. Our practice has been to have them escort the transport TFs through the area, but this time they hadn't yet made the linkup.
Japanese air patrols were spotted yesterday over Port Blair, and our reinforcements are 2 days out. We'll move some fighters there to provide CAP.
Otherwise, things are quiet in this area. Our supply ships have arrived and are unloading at Addu; other task forces are moving fuel and supplies to Colombo, Cochin, Trincomalee, Karachi, and Bombay. SS TRUANT just arrived in Aden and will be deployed anon. As noted, we will build up Chittagong along with the other bases on the perimeter of the ocean.
General Comments
This is the second long post in a row, but between the two I think they give a pretty detailed idea of where things stand. Comments and questions are always welcome!
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
928
12/27/41
Very little happened this turn. Invasion forces made some noise at Beaufort, the Japanese overran some unheard-of bases in China, and that's about it! Intelligence reports say a couple enemy ships sank (including a submarine hitting a mine), but I don't recall seeing any such messages in the scrolls-too-fast screen during the turn. I strongly suspect both these ships will be on the "oops, we made a mistake" report in a day or so.
The one point of concern is spotting an enemy task force at Port Blair when our transports are one day out. The TF doesn't show up on the map, though, so we can be sure it's not in that exact hex. If the movement is correct in the intelligence report (typical chances about 10%) then it's moving away and we should be able to get in safely. I'm not holding my breath!
Still having some trouble coming to grips with a master plan. This has more to do with a lack of time right now than with my low game skills -- it is tax season, after all. My opponent keeps saying not to worry about it and to take my time, but there comes a point where I start feeling internal pressure (like when I'm on the golf course and the foursome behind me is constantly waiting for mine -- even though it's because we're constantly waiting for the yahoos in front of us -- and I feel pressured to maintain pace of play). It's also a little bit like real life: I'm very slow to pull the trigger on major decisions, possibly because I tend to be aggressive in my intentions and the risk-averse part of me says "go ahead if you want to, but be sure you want to!"
The last of our B-17s are on the way from Pearl Harbor to Australia via Palmyra and Suva/Nadi. One unit is being kept behind simply because it withdraws in a couple weeks. Need to move some fighters, as well, but with their short ranges they'll need to go by ship and I'm short of escorts at the moment.
The ASW air patrols around Auckland are actually being somewhat useful, although they haven't actually attacked any submarines yet (there are four known to be in the area). We've added a surface ASW patrol that will traverse all known SS-occupied hexes. The idea is to disturb them enough to let LEXINGTON book out of there. Unfortunately, she has 28 major flotation damage and doesn't fit in the yards at Auckland. ENTERPRISE is there, as well, but undamaged. I may combine the two TFs at least long enough to get out of Dodge; the extra screen will be very useful.
Dang, I knew I forgot something (something important, that is; I'm pretty sure everybody forgets something every turn). SS SAURY is fully repaired and ready to go on patrol. I think the hex southwest of Bataan will be a good patrol area; an enemy TF has been loitering there for a few days now and could use some "encouragement" to go play somewhere else.
That's it for this update.
12/27/41
Very little happened this turn. Invasion forces made some noise at Beaufort, the Japanese overran some unheard-of bases in China, and that's about it! Intelligence reports say a couple enemy ships sank (including a submarine hitting a mine), but I don't recall seeing any such messages in the scrolls-too-fast screen during the turn. I strongly suspect both these ships will be on the "oops, we made a mistake" report in a day or so.
The one point of concern is spotting an enemy task force at Port Blair when our transports are one day out. The TF doesn't show up on the map, though, so we can be sure it's not in that exact hex. If the movement is correct in the intelligence report (typical chances about 10%) then it's moving away and we should be able to get in safely. I'm not holding my breath!
Still having some trouble coming to grips with a master plan. This has more to do with a lack of time right now than with my low game skills -- it is tax season, after all. My opponent keeps saying not to worry about it and to take my time, but there comes a point where I start feeling internal pressure (like when I'm on the golf course and the foursome behind me is constantly waiting for mine -- even though it's because we're constantly waiting for the yahoos in front of us -- and I feel pressured to maintain pace of play). It's also a little bit like real life: I'm very slow to pull the trigger on major decisions, possibly because I tend to be aggressive in my intentions and the risk-averse part of me says "go ahead if you want to, but be sure you want to!"
The last of our B-17s are on the way from Pearl Harbor to Australia via Palmyra and Suva/Nadi. One unit is being kept behind simply because it withdraws in a couple weeks. Need to move some fighters, as well, but with their short ranges they'll need to go by ship and I'm short of escorts at the moment.
The ASW air patrols around Auckland are actually being somewhat useful, although they haven't actually attacked any submarines yet (there are four known to be in the area). We've added a surface ASW patrol that will traverse all known SS-occupied hexes. The idea is to disturb them enough to let LEXINGTON book out of there. Unfortunately, she has 28 major flotation damage and doesn't fit in the yards at Auckland. ENTERPRISE is there, as well, but undamaged. I may combine the two TFs at least long enough to get out of Dodge; the extra screen will be very useful.
Dang, I knew I forgot something (something important, that is; I'm pretty sure everybody forgets something every turn). SS SAURY is fully repaired and ready to go on patrol. I think the hex southwest of Bataan will be a good patrol area; an enemy TF has been loitering there for a few days now and could use some "encouragement" to go play somewhere else.
That's it for this update.
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
978
12/28/41
Not a lot to report, aside from one big OOPS! on my part. My forces depth charged some of his submarines loitering around Auckland, and next turn might -- emphasize might -- produce a glug, glug effect or two. I'm in a little bit of a pickle as LEXINGTON is too large for the yards at Auckland, and while it can most likely get to a larger port at cruise speed I'm afraid it has just a little too much damage for a high-speed breakout past the subs. I'll need to get rid of them before attempting to get the CV out of port.
Lost a couple more bases that had, at best, a base force unit defending them. No major battles.
I got extremely nervous when I received the turn and he mentioned that he had some success with his attack on Port Blair. Since my convoy was scheduled to arrive this turn, that was a very worrisome statement! He did score a hit on one of the smaller ships but the real damage was at Batavia, where he succeeded in sinking about half the ships in the harbor. This leads to the OOPS! I mentioned earlier; it just occurred to me that I didn't pay any attention to what's left before I returned the turn!
Nothing much else. We traded missed torpedo shots, and his ASW was ineffective. Approaching the 1st of the month, at which time I'll do a full review of all my air training groups and swap pilots in and out. I have a little over a week before any units need to be withdrawn. All B-17s from Pearl are on their way southwest, aside from one unit that has a mid-January withdrawal date (and only has 2 aircraft). Nautically, things are quiet in the southern Philippines right now so I'm evaluating how to get a few more ships out of the area (practically all the ground units are permanently restricted, so loss of shipping won't hurt them). Other than that, everything is a continuation of the previous day.
12/28/41
Not a lot to report, aside from one big OOPS! on my part. My forces depth charged some of his submarines loitering around Auckland, and next turn might -- emphasize might -- produce a glug, glug effect or two. I'm in a little bit of a pickle as LEXINGTON is too large for the yards at Auckland, and while it can most likely get to a larger port at cruise speed I'm afraid it has just a little too much damage for a high-speed breakout past the subs. I'll need to get rid of them before attempting to get the CV out of port.
Lost a couple more bases that had, at best, a base force unit defending them. No major battles.
I got extremely nervous when I received the turn and he mentioned that he had some success with his attack on Port Blair. Since my convoy was scheduled to arrive this turn, that was a very worrisome statement! He did score a hit on one of the smaller ships but the real damage was at Batavia, where he succeeded in sinking about half the ships in the harbor. This leads to the OOPS! I mentioned earlier; it just occurred to me that I didn't pay any attention to what's left before I returned the turn!
Nothing much else. We traded missed torpedo shots, and his ASW was ineffective. Approaching the 1st of the month, at which time I'll do a full review of all my air training groups and swap pilots in and out. I have a little over a week before any units need to be withdrawn. All B-17s from Pearl are on their way southwest, aside from one unit that has a mid-January withdrawal date (and only has 2 aircraft). Nautically, things are quiet in the southern Philippines right now so I'm evaluating how to get a few more ships out of the area (practically all the ground units are permanently restricted, so loss of shipping won't hurt them). Other than that, everything is a continuation of the previous day.
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
1013
12/29/41
Just an update for the two or three following this AAR with bated breath! My response this turn will take several days due to real-life commitments, but I can at least take a couple minutes to tell you what's happened.
This turn was a minor disaster. Before running the replay I got to thinking, "you know, I need to work on figuring out where the KB is." Never mind, I found them! Six to eight hexes (my notes are at home) northwest of Auckland, and they found my CVs in that port. Bottom line is that LEXINGTON is now the basis for a coral reef and ENTERPRISE is significantly damaged, to the point that her planes relocated to land. As at least one Queen of England is reported to have said, "we are not amused!"
To add insult to injury, one of the SBD-2 groups took it upon itself to fly out and attack the KB. Needless to say, that attack did not go well.
The one good thing about all this is that it happened the turn it did; one day later and SARATOGA might have been in range, as well. I did already change her course, and with some luck she'll give the KB and the SS patrols a wide berth.
As noted earlier, I sent the last return and then remembered the ships at Batavia. Of course there was another attack there, but only three new ships were hit. Between the two attacks one xAK accumulated 98 points of flotation damage, so she has been scuttled. A large number of ships are still undamaged or nearly so, and they're now all on their way to Soerabaja. There are four or five separate TFs, organized by ship speed, so chances are fair that most of the ships should make the trip. I'm still evaluating the viability of getting the damaged ships out; some might serve better sitting where they are and being bomb magnets, distracting the attackers from the fleeing ships.
The only other thing important enough for me to remember off the top of my head is that one of the Chinese units on the move has arrived in an unoccupied Japanese-owned base. We'll naturally conduct a deliberate attack to bring the base back into the Sphere of Righteousness before continuing on our way to more hospitable terrain.
I'll have another update when I've done all my work.
12/29/41
Just an update for the two or three following this AAR with bated breath! My response this turn will take several days due to real-life commitments, but I can at least take a couple minutes to tell you what's happened.
This turn was a minor disaster. Before running the replay I got to thinking, "you know, I need to work on figuring out where the KB is." Never mind, I found them! Six to eight hexes (my notes are at home) northwest of Auckland, and they found my CVs in that port. Bottom line is that LEXINGTON is now the basis for a coral reef and ENTERPRISE is significantly damaged, to the point that her planes relocated to land. As at least one Queen of England is reported to have said, "we are not amused!"
To add insult to injury, one of the SBD-2 groups took it upon itself to fly out and attack the KB. Needless to say, that attack did not go well.
The one good thing about all this is that it happened the turn it did; one day later and SARATOGA might have been in range, as well. I did already change her course, and with some luck she'll give the KB and the SS patrols a wide berth.
As noted earlier, I sent the last return and then remembered the ships at Batavia. Of course there was another attack there, but only three new ships were hit. Between the two attacks one xAK accumulated 98 points of flotation damage, so she has been scuttled. A large number of ships are still undamaged or nearly so, and they're now all on their way to Soerabaja. There are four or five separate TFs, organized by ship speed, so chances are fair that most of the ships should make the trip. I'm still evaluating the viability of getting the damaged ships out; some might serve better sitting where they are and being bomb magnets, distracting the attackers from the fleeing ships.
The only other thing important enough for me to remember off the top of my head is that one of the Chinese units on the move has arrived in an unoccupied Japanese-owned base. We'll naturally conduct a deliberate attack to bring the base back into the Sphere of Righteousness before continuing on our way to more hospitable terrain.
I'll have another update when I've done all my work.
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
1126
12/30/41
Tax season is more or less over, and I'm finally able once again to devote some time to the game. At the same time, some changes at David's end mean that he might be a little slower than usual for a short time. Good thing we're not in any hurry!
Very little happened this turn that is worthy of mention; the damage has already been done. I get the definite impression from David's comments, though, that FOW is deceiving him considerably. He talks like he's destroyed my entire fleet, while I find losses to be acceptable (well, except for the CV problems).
We took Ichang back in China, by merely walking through it. Similarly, he took Muntok. Pretty even trade there.
There is an enemy SCTF in the vicinity of Port Blair, so our convoys heading there are temporarily in holding patterns a safe distance off. CVL HERMES has sortied from Trincomalee with one CL; a CA and CL are coming around the island from Colombo to join them. They'll then head southeast to raise some havoc from across the islands, if the enemy is still there when they arrive. To the extent we can trust intelligence there are no CVs in the enemy force; its reported size is 9 ships and all have been identified (IIRC one CA, three CL, and five DD). Some swordfish coming in at low altitude just might do some damage.
Beyond that it's the same old same old for now. I've sent some supplies toward Port Moresby to keep it in good shape, but there is no immediate threat. The enemy has landed at but not taken Lae; nothing has been spotted coming by sea around the south side of New Britain.
One of these times I'll think about updating this AAR when I have my notes handy, instead of during my lunch hour!
12/30/41
Tax season is more or less over, and I'm finally able once again to devote some time to the game. At the same time, some changes at David's end mean that he might be a little slower than usual for a short time. Good thing we're not in any hurry!
Very little happened this turn that is worthy of mention; the damage has already been done. I get the definite impression from David's comments, though, that FOW is deceiving him considerably. He talks like he's destroyed my entire fleet, while I find losses to be acceptable (well, except for the CV problems).
We took Ichang back in China, by merely walking through it. Similarly, he took Muntok. Pretty even trade there.
There is an enemy SCTF in the vicinity of Port Blair, so our convoys heading there are temporarily in holding patterns a safe distance off. CVL HERMES has sortied from Trincomalee with one CL; a CA and CL are coming around the island from Colombo to join them. They'll then head southeast to raise some havoc from across the islands, if the enemy is still there when they arrive. To the extent we can trust intelligence there are no CVs in the enemy force; its reported size is 9 ships and all have been identified (IIRC one CA, three CL, and five DD). Some swordfish coming in at low altitude just might do some damage.
Beyond that it's the same old same old for now. I've sent some supplies toward Port Moresby to keep it in good shape, but there is no immediate threat. The enemy has landed at but not taken Lae; nothing has been spotted coming by sea around the south side of New Britain.
One of these times I'll think about updating this AAR when I have my notes handy, instead of during my lunch hour!
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
1271
After a hiatus of roughly 2 months, we're in progress again. I was delayed by tax season followed by two conventions, in each of which I had major roles. It took about 2 weeks just to reacquaint myself with the situation at hand!
That $*%7^)# SCTF near Port Blair managed to wipe out my TF taking troops to the island, and now we've lost track of where it is. My supply TF is still in the vicinity, taking a long route to Port Blair and hoping to avoid that same enemy force. HERMES and the cruisers have linked up and are heading in the general direction though they'll remain a respectable distance away until we can get a better idea of what's going on.
Other than that, still not much happening. BB ROYAL SOVEREIGN arrived in Aden, so it's now on its way to Bombay. There are no indications of Japanese submarines being in Indian Ocean waters, at least not that far game north/real west, but just to be safe it's accompanied by a KV that doesn't do us any good sitting in Aden!
David is in the process of moving from one country to another (although the total distance won't even be as far as moving within some counties in the US), so his reply might take some time.
I'm somewhat amazed that after 2 months this thread was still on Page 2!
After a hiatus of roughly 2 months, we're in progress again. I was delayed by tax season followed by two conventions, in each of which I had major roles. It took about 2 weeks just to reacquaint myself with the situation at hand!
That $*%7^)# SCTF near Port Blair managed to wipe out my TF taking troops to the island, and now we've lost track of where it is. My supply TF is still in the vicinity, taking a long route to Port Blair and hoping to avoid that same enemy force. HERMES and the cruisers have linked up and are heading in the general direction though they'll remain a respectable distance away until we can get a better idea of what's going on.
Other than that, still not much happening. BB ROYAL SOVEREIGN arrived in Aden, so it's now on its way to Bombay. There are no indications of Japanese submarines being in Indian Ocean waters, at least not that far game north/real west, but just to be safe it's accompanied by a KV that doesn't do us any good sitting in Aden!
David is in the process of moving from one country to another (although the total distance won't even be as far as moving within some counties in the US), so his reply might take some time.
I'm somewhat amazed that after 2 months this thread was still on Page 2!
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
Appearances to the contrary, this game has not been abandoned! David needed some time off to move, then I was held up by multiple medical issues, then I sent him a turn that he never received, and now we're looking at the aftermath of the Christmas holiday. There will be an update soon, I hope!
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
You did warn us in the first post that this would be a slow game! [:D]ORIGINAL: CaptDave
Appearances to the contrary, this game has not been abandoned! David needed some time off to move, then I was held up by multiple medical issues, then I sent him a turn that he never received, and now we're looking at the aftermath of the Christmas holiday. There will be an update soon, I hope!
Hope your medical issues have been effectively dealt with!
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
2179
Repeat of my previous post, but this time we're finally really getting going on. After a year and a half we've actually played a full month! David's move took some time, then it was high point in the tax season, then he was busy at work, then ... then ... then ...
On the bright side I'm coming to the end of a couple of my terms of office in some professional organizations, and although I'm replacing those positions with others the net result should be that I have a little more free time. Also, due to previously mentioned medical conditions (which haven't gone away -- some are improving greatly, some are merely improving, and some have cropped up but are being treated) I've given up some of my other meetings.
I'll have a good post for you next turn, I think (I just finished the 1/5/42 turn and will review it before sending it off). Took too long to pick up on where I was so no report this time.
(PS -- as an Allied player, I hate the accuracy of Japanese search in the early war!)
Dave
Repeat of my previous post, but this time we're finally really getting going on. After a year and a half we've actually played a full month! David's move took some time, then it was high point in the tax season, then he was busy at work, then ... then ... then ...
On the bright side I'm coming to the end of a couple of my terms of office in some professional organizations, and although I'm replacing those positions with others the net result should be that I have a little more free time. Also, due to previously mentioned medical conditions (which haven't gone away -- some are improving greatly, some are merely improving, and some have cropped up but are being treated) I've given up some of my other meetings.
I'll have a good post for you next turn, I think (I just finished the 1/5/42 turn and will review it before sending it off). Took too long to pick up on where I was so no report this time.
(PS -- as an Allied player, I hate the accuracy of Japanese search in the early war!)
Dave
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
1/6/42
This time it was David's turn to take a month for his turn. I've promised to up my tempo, and I hope he is able to do the same. I don't object to a slow game -- some of us do still work for a living! -- but I'm quickly learning that after about a week I have no memory of what I was thinking, and even after playing the game sporadically for years my note-taking skills haven't even risen to the level of lacking.
To recap:
My strategy right now is to hunker down on defense as much as possible. The exception, of course, is the submarine force. While they're being much more useless than I'm used to, they at least get a shot off on occasion. It's been a while since they scored any hits, though (fortunately, I can say the same for the other side).
The current situation:
All surviving troops in Malaya are either in Johore Bahru or Singapore. The Japanese have advanced into Johore, where my strenght is 2391/327/98. Not as strong as I'd like, but what is at this point in the war? Fortifications just reached 3, so this should be at least a teeth-jarring speed bump. Intelligence tells me there is only 1 Japanese unit in Johore at this point.
The numbers at Singapore are much better: 10833/6206/359. I'm hoping the forts will be up to at least 4 by the time the Japanese arrive (they're at 3.52 now). I'm also prepared to evacuate air and shipping as soon as needed.
I have absolutely no idea where the KB is. It was last seen northwest of Auckland (all directions based on the map, not on reality) but it departed after sinking practically every ship in port. I'm wary, proceeding with caution, but pressing on.
There was a report of ships being sighted one hex west of Cochin. They don't show on the map, and the report was 4 ships moving SW at 19 knots. I don't have any TFs in that area, so it's not a case of misidentification. There's probably nothing there, but we'll find out next turn when we see if they're spotted again. To add some safety I've sent SS TRUANT on patrol in the area between SW India and the line of shallow water to the west.
Since the allies can't convert any ships into AS, I'm prudently redeploying my current ones as possible. The one in Colombo is moving to Trincomalee so I have both bases available for sub work. The AS in San Diego will be redeployed to either Darwin or Brisbane as soon as an escort is available.
The Japanese have invested Manila so I'm in the process of evacuating all ships in good repair. There are only 5 ships in port, anyway, and one isn't worth trying to save. The other four are simply rebasing to Bataan. There are some Japanese TFs in other hexes around the entrance to Manila Bay and I'm redeploying the local S boats to harass them a bit. In the unlikely event that the Japanese ships decide to retire then I'll get the AS out of Dodge. There haven't been any air attacks on Bataan for a while so I might have a few days' respite before he calls my bluff.
I'll be rebasing all the Manila submarines. The S boats will go first to Soerabaja, then to Australia. The others will be split among several bases; those with a longer range will probably go to Pearl while those with a little bit less endurance will go to Australia. I have some time before I have to commit them, but since their hunting grounds aren't bearing fruit I'll shift their patrol zones (next turn) in the direction of their new bases.
I'm not happy with the way I've been building up defenses in India. I somehow don't think he's going to make any serious attempts to invade, but as O'Kane (and probably several others) said, "plan based on the enemy's capabilities, not on what you think his intentions are." So far I've concentrated on building up Ceylon, which is not unreasonable, but my shipping is too scattered to do much with the two Australian divisions waiting in Aden for transport. Lots of empties headed back that direction, though, so I might be able to move some Aussies soon.
China, as can be expected, is a chaotic mess. I've been pulling the old Sir Robin ploy there, but my troops move with the speed of a glacier while his are more like the nitwits skiing down that glacier! He has troops in Changsha alongside mine, but this will be a long war of attrition. The mouseover makes it look like I have a few hundred units -- that's units, not troops -- there, and the numbers are 16690/445/0. He has 9 units in the city, so his AV is probably getting close to mine. I get the city bonus on defense, at least, and I'm not stupid enough to attack him! Other units are moving toward the city, and they're closer than his approaching reinforcements. Everything west of Changsha is still retreating, by the way; the incoming troops I mention are coming from the east on their own retreats.
The only other effort I've made this turn is to take a look at the repairs going on at Pearl Harbor. The shipyard is close to capacity, and DD HELM and CL PHOENIX have reached their repair limits without going into the docks. I moved HELM in, but doing so with PHOENIX tripled the remaining repair time on the other ships already there so she will stay pierside another 3+ weeks. The ships taking up the space are almost all CA and CL, with a DD or two. The BBs will have to wait; they might even get repaired enough pierside to be sent to the states to finish up, but we'll see. They're all still pretty heavily damaged.
Oops, I lied. I decided I'd better check the status of upcoming withdrawals. Nothing to worry about their. AP DOMINION MONARCH, currently at Singapore is the next ship to go and that's not for 27 days. Ground unit withdrawal is far enough away that it's still reported in dates and not numbers of days. The earliest air unit withdrawal is coming up in 9 days, and that's the B-18 squadrons training at Fresno. A B-17E unit will disappear not too many days after that, and I won't be as complacent about its departure. After that I have some breathing room.
Lots I still need to get done. Any particular information anyone wants? More important, any advice anyone has?
This time it was David's turn to take a month for his turn. I've promised to up my tempo, and I hope he is able to do the same. I don't object to a slow game -- some of us do still work for a living! -- but I'm quickly learning that after about a week I have no memory of what I was thinking, and even after playing the game sporadically for years my note-taking skills haven't even risen to the level of lacking.
To recap:
My strategy right now is to hunker down on defense as much as possible. The exception, of course, is the submarine force. While they're being much more useless than I'm used to, they at least get a shot off on occasion. It's been a while since they scored any hits, though (fortunately, I can say the same for the other side).
The current situation:
All surviving troops in Malaya are either in Johore Bahru or Singapore. The Japanese have advanced into Johore, where my strenght is 2391/327/98. Not as strong as I'd like, but what is at this point in the war? Fortifications just reached 3, so this should be at least a teeth-jarring speed bump. Intelligence tells me there is only 1 Japanese unit in Johore at this point.
The numbers at Singapore are much better: 10833/6206/359. I'm hoping the forts will be up to at least 4 by the time the Japanese arrive (they're at 3.52 now). I'm also prepared to evacuate air and shipping as soon as needed.
I have absolutely no idea where the KB is. It was last seen northwest of Auckland (all directions based on the map, not on reality) but it departed after sinking practically every ship in port. I'm wary, proceeding with caution, but pressing on.
There was a report of ships being sighted one hex west of Cochin. They don't show on the map, and the report was 4 ships moving SW at 19 knots. I don't have any TFs in that area, so it's not a case of misidentification. There's probably nothing there, but we'll find out next turn when we see if they're spotted again. To add some safety I've sent SS TRUANT on patrol in the area between SW India and the line of shallow water to the west.
Since the allies can't convert any ships into AS, I'm prudently redeploying my current ones as possible. The one in Colombo is moving to Trincomalee so I have both bases available for sub work. The AS in San Diego will be redeployed to either Darwin or Brisbane as soon as an escort is available.
The Japanese have invested Manila so I'm in the process of evacuating all ships in good repair. There are only 5 ships in port, anyway, and one isn't worth trying to save. The other four are simply rebasing to Bataan. There are some Japanese TFs in other hexes around the entrance to Manila Bay and I'm redeploying the local S boats to harass them a bit. In the unlikely event that the Japanese ships decide to retire then I'll get the AS out of Dodge. There haven't been any air attacks on Bataan for a while so I might have a few days' respite before he calls my bluff.
I'll be rebasing all the Manila submarines. The S boats will go first to Soerabaja, then to Australia. The others will be split among several bases; those with a longer range will probably go to Pearl while those with a little bit less endurance will go to Australia. I have some time before I have to commit them, but since their hunting grounds aren't bearing fruit I'll shift their patrol zones (next turn) in the direction of their new bases.
I'm not happy with the way I've been building up defenses in India. I somehow don't think he's going to make any serious attempts to invade, but as O'Kane (and probably several others) said, "plan based on the enemy's capabilities, not on what you think his intentions are." So far I've concentrated on building up Ceylon, which is not unreasonable, but my shipping is too scattered to do much with the two Australian divisions waiting in Aden for transport. Lots of empties headed back that direction, though, so I might be able to move some Aussies soon.
China, as can be expected, is a chaotic mess. I've been pulling the old Sir Robin ploy there, but my troops move with the speed of a glacier while his are more like the nitwits skiing down that glacier! He has troops in Changsha alongside mine, but this will be a long war of attrition. The mouseover makes it look like I have a few hundred units -- that's units, not troops -- there, and the numbers are 16690/445/0. He has 9 units in the city, so his AV is probably getting close to mine. I get the city bonus on defense, at least, and I'm not stupid enough to attack him! Other units are moving toward the city, and they're closer than his approaching reinforcements. Everything west of Changsha is still retreating, by the way; the incoming troops I mention are coming from the east on their own retreats.
The only other effort I've made this turn is to take a look at the repairs going on at Pearl Harbor. The shipyard is close to capacity, and DD HELM and CL PHOENIX have reached their repair limits without going into the docks. I moved HELM in, but doing so with PHOENIX tripled the remaining repair time on the other ships already there so she will stay pierside another 3+ weeks. The ships taking up the space are almost all CA and CL, with a DD or two. The BBs will have to wait; they might even get repaired enough pierside to be sent to the states to finish up, but we'll see. They're all still pretty heavily damaged.
Oops, I lied. I decided I'd better check the status of upcoming withdrawals. Nothing to worry about their. AP DOMINION MONARCH, currently at Singapore is the next ship to go and that's not for 27 days. Ground unit withdrawal is far enough away that it's still reported in dates and not numbers of days. The earliest air unit withdrawal is coming up in 9 days, and that's the B-18 squadrons training at Fresno. A B-17E unit will disappear not too many days after that, and I won't be as complacent about its departure. After that I have some breathing room.
Lots I still need to get done. Any particular information anyone wants? More important, any advice anyone has?
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
2501
Okay, I just finished my 1/7/42 turn but haven't sent it off, yet (with the amount of email I receive, I try not to get into the program in the evening because if I don't look at all my mailboxes I won't see new messages flagged the next morning).
Not a lot of combat worth mentioning this turn. SS S-37 decided to take on a whole flotilla of destroyers off the entrance to Manila Bay; I think you can guess the outcome! The only other thing I bothered making a note about was the Japanese SS parked off the entrance to Puget Sound. More on that in a minute.
Most of this turn was spent paying attention to the subs in the Philippine Sea and its environs, along with aircraft in the islands. As far as the aircraft go, I'm either evacuating or preparing to evacuate them from bases that will fall soon. In most cases the key word is "preparing." The biggest question I have for myself is what to do with 10BS PAAC, that miserable little B-10 unit. It's restricted, so I can't move it out of the PI without changing a base command somewhere (don't have the game open right now; might be I can change the unit, as well). It has one airplane left with no replacements available, so I'll probably decide to just disband it rather than wasting points. It could be a good training unit, otherwise.
The Manila-based submarines have been subjected to three different changes. The S boats have been rebased at Soerabaja, which for the time being seems to be safe from Japanese aggression. One of them needs to leave now and even stop at Ternate for some fuel; the others can stay on patrol a while longer before they need to retire. The fleet boats are being rebased to either Sydney or Pearl Harbor, depending on where they're patrolling now; those in the south go to Sydney, those in the north go to Pearl Harbor. Three of them have had their patrols changed so they're in an area where some ships needs some sinkin' -- the others will be changed eventually if I see evidence they're being evaded.
I have a task force leaving Cagayan, heading to Pearl Harbor. Remarkably enough there don't seem to be any Japanese ships positioned to block my escape route and there are no aircraft in those parts making observations. These are just four small transports (I think one xAK and three xAKL) carrying the base force, the only ground unit that can be moved. They'd be lost soon anyway, so if they don't make it I'm not going to cry about them (well, no more than if they were lost when the base was overrun).
On the other hand, I seem to have something on the order of a hundred ships at Soerabaja. The base isn't under immediate threat, so I've put off thinking about them for one more day. Since I have most of my game time in the hour or two before going to bed, I don't always think my best when working with it!
My other hope is that I'll be able to get AS CANOPUS out of Manila. It has two days left in the shipyard, and when it's in good shape I'll rebase it to Bataan. David does have the waters blocked any farther out, so I'm hoping some of my sub activity will cause at least some temporary diversions there. There just aren't enough AS to go around, and in AE the Allied player doesn't get to convert anything to them.
With any luck the SS off Puget Sound won't survive much longer (but luck of this sort has eluded me this entire war; even the Dutch submarines aren't getting hits!). There are any number of ASW aircraft that should be flying over its hex, and I've formed the three KV from Vancouver into an ASW TF and sent them in that direction. At the very least I hope to keep this guy hugging the bottom after a few turns; Alaska needs some supplies so I have the TF loading up at Seattle. Two DDs and a PG with the transports, but I feel safer when there's no SS there in the first place.
I'll admit to being completely overwhelmed trying to keep track of what's happening in China. Units have movement orders different from what I remember, some are just camping in place when I know I had everything on the move, and so on. Sometime soon I need to make some detailed notes of what my intentions are so I can follow up every turn or two. I'm taking to heart everyone's advice to not worry about everything every turn, but China seems to be that one that keeps getting postponed "just one more turn."
Biggest concern of all: I haven't seen the KB in well over a week of game time. It could well be heading back to Truk or even Japan; shortly after Pearl Harbor it was off New Zealand decimating everything I had down there. There are no Japanese bases to speak of south of Truk at the moment (there are some, but they're tiny sites) so I'm not concerned about the KB refitting any closer.
Next major action site will probably be Singapore. The enemy is in Johore Bahru, but so are a dozen or so of my fighting units. An equal number and more are in Singapore resting up, and I'm issuing ground attack orders to many of the Singapore-based aircraft (both bombers and fighters). I'm rather surprised there haven't been any Japanese bomber attacks in this area, to tell you the truth!
I think that about covers it for this update. Questions and advice are always welcome!
Okay, I just finished my 1/7/42 turn but haven't sent it off, yet (with the amount of email I receive, I try not to get into the program in the evening because if I don't look at all my mailboxes I won't see new messages flagged the next morning).
Not a lot of combat worth mentioning this turn. SS S-37 decided to take on a whole flotilla of destroyers off the entrance to Manila Bay; I think you can guess the outcome! The only other thing I bothered making a note about was the Japanese SS parked off the entrance to Puget Sound. More on that in a minute.
Most of this turn was spent paying attention to the subs in the Philippine Sea and its environs, along with aircraft in the islands. As far as the aircraft go, I'm either evacuating or preparing to evacuate them from bases that will fall soon. In most cases the key word is "preparing." The biggest question I have for myself is what to do with 10BS PAAC, that miserable little B-10 unit. It's restricted, so I can't move it out of the PI without changing a base command somewhere (don't have the game open right now; might be I can change the unit, as well). It has one airplane left with no replacements available, so I'll probably decide to just disband it rather than wasting points. It could be a good training unit, otherwise.
The Manila-based submarines have been subjected to three different changes. The S boats have been rebased at Soerabaja, which for the time being seems to be safe from Japanese aggression. One of them needs to leave now and even stop at Ternate for some fuel; the others can stay on patrol a while longer before they need to retire. The fleet boats are being rebased to either Sydney or Pearl Harbor, depending on where they're patrolling now; those in the south go to Sydney, those in the north go to Pearl Harbor. Three of them have had their patrols changed so they're in an area where some ships needs some sinkin' -- the others will be changed eventually if I see evidence they're being evaded.
I have a task force leaving Cagayan, heading to Pearl Harbor. Remarkably enough there don't seem to be any Japanese ships positioned to block my escape route and there are no aircraft in those parts making observations. These are just four small transports (I think one xAK and three xAKL) carrying the base force, the only ground unit that can be moved. They'd be lost soon anyway, so if they don't make it I'm not going to cry about them (well, no more than if they were lost when the base was overrun).
On the other hand, I seem to have something on the order of a hundred ships at Soerabaja. The base isn't under immediate threat, so I've put off thinking about them for one more day. Since I have most of my game time in the hour or two before going to bed, I don't always think my best when working with it!
My other hope is that I'll be able to get AS CANOPUS out of Manila. It has two days left in the shipyard, and when it's in good shape I'll rebase it to Bataan. David does have the waters blocked any farther out, so I'm hoping some of my sub activity will cause at least some temporary diversions there. There just aren't enough AS to go around, and in AE the Allied player doesn't get to convert anything to them.
With any luck the SS off Puget Sound won't survive much longer (but luck of this sort has eluded me this entire war; even the Dutch submarines aren't getting hits!). There are any number of ASW aircraft that should be flying over its hex, and I've formed the three KV from Vancouver into an ASW TF and sent them in that direction. At the very least I hope to keep this guy hugging the bottom after a few turns; Alaska needs some supplies so I have the TF loading up at Seattle. Two DDs and a PG with the transports, but I feel safer when there's no SS there in the first place.
I'll admit to being completely overwhelmed trying to keep track of what's happening in China. Units have movement orders different from what I remember, some are just camping in place when I know I had everything on the move, and so on. Sometime soon I need to make some detailed notes of what my intentions are so I can follow up every turn or two. I'm taking to heart everyone's advice to not worry about everything every turn, but China seems to be that one that keeps getting postponed "just one more turn."
Biggest concern of all: I haven't seen the KB in well over a week of game time. It could well be heading back to Truk or even Japan; shortly after Pearl Harbor it was off New Zealand decimating everything I had down there. There are no Japanese bases to speak of south of Truk at the moment (there are some, but they're tiny sites) so I'm not concerned about the KB refitting any closer.
Next major action site will probably be Singapore. The enemy is in Johore Bahru, but so are a dozen or so of my fighting units. An equal number and more are in Singapore resting up, and I'm issuing ground attack orders to many of the Singapore-based aircraft (both bombers and fighters). I'm rather surprised there haven't been any Japanese bomber attacks in this area, to tell you the truth!
I think that about covers it for this update. Questions and advice are always welcome!
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
2599
1/7/42
Always happy to see that people are actually reading!
Don't think I have David's next turn, yet. I tend not to check email on weekends (has to do with the same computer being for work and personal), so it could be in my inbox waiting. He does sent the combat results and his pre-move file, though, so I can start my own planning.
Not that much to report in terms of combat. Had only two or three flights to attack shipping at Bataan; his pilots must need some rest (or they couldn't take off due to weather). For once he actually didn't hit anything! Neither did my CAP, but that's beside the point.
In China the Japanese attacks continue, both air and ground. He seems to be concentrating on two points -- just southeast and slightly farther south of Sian -- and not having ultimate success (in one attack I did lose a LOT of troops, but that was the exception). There are some attacks elsewhere, but they were inconsequential for a change.
The big deal is Malaya, where the attack on Johore Bahru has begun. I have less firepower there than I thought, but I know there is a lot more in Singapore itself. I might start pulling back now; the main purpose of having a force in JB was to hold off the enemy while we ramped everybody up to fighting mode in Singapore (I've been alternating units set for Rest or Combat every day or two). Naturally, the planes I had attacking his troops in Johore Bahru were lucky to hit the right time zone.
My plans for this turn include:
1. As I just said, start pulling back from Johore Bahru to Singapore. At the same time, convert troops in Singapore to Combat/Defend status. Maybe see about sneaking some ships up the east coast of the other island (name escapes me at the moment) in onesy-twosy TFs while he's distracted with the attack.
2. Look at all units in China. Many seem to have stopped their movement in locations I wouldn't have sent them; if that's the case, it needs to be rectified. Make a list of units and their individual intentions.
3. Reassess my status in India and the surrounding ocean. This is just a status check; no change in strategy unless my review of the map finds some disconcerting enemy shipping in the area.
4. Do the same for the South Pacific, Dutch territory, and Australia. I did this for Alaska last turn (with the result that I'm sending some shiploads of supplies up that way).
5. Regarding the Alaska shipping, see what's up with that submarine off the entrance to Puget Sound. Its presence is distinctly unwelcome! At least my supply shuttle to Victoria isn't affected by it.
6. Anything else I happen to think of between now and the time I open the game file.
If I remember, I'll post again at the end of the turn.
1/7/42
Always happy to see that people are actually reading!
Don't think I have David's next turn, yet. I tend not to check email on weekends (has to do with the same computer being for work and personal), so it could be in my inbox waiting. He does sent the combat results and his pre-move file, though, so I can start my own planning.
Not that much to report in terms of combat. Had only two or three flights to attack shipping at Bataan; his pilots must need some rest (or they couldn't take off due to weather). For once he actually didn't hit anything! Neither did my CAP, but that's beside the point.
In China the Japanese attacks continue, both air and ground. He seems to be concentrating on two points -- just southeast and slightly farther south of Sian -- and not having ultimate success (in one attack I did lose a LOT of troops, but that was the exception). There are some attacks elsewhere, but they were inconsequential for a change.
The big deal is Malaya, where the attack on Johore Bahru has begun. I have less firepower there than I thought, but I know there is a lot more in Singapore itself. I might start pulling back now; the main purpose of having a force in JB was to hold off the enemy while we ramped everybody up to fighting mode in Singapore (I've been alternating units set for Rest or Combat every day or two). Naturally, the planes I had attacking his troops in Johore Bahru were lucky to hit the right time zone.
My plans for this turn include:
1. As I just said, start pulling back from Johore Bahru to Singapore. At the same time, convert troops in Singapore to Combat/Defend status. Maybe see about sneaking some ships up the east coast of the other island (name escapes me at the moment) in onesy-twosy TFs while he's distracted with the attack.
2. Look at all units in China. Many seem to have stopped their movement in locations I wouldn't have sent them; if that's the case, it needs to be rectified. Make a list of units and their individual intentions.
3. Reassess my status in India and the surrounding ocean. This is just a status check; no change in strategy unless my review of the map finds some disconcerting enemy shipping in the area.
4. Do the same for the South Pacific, Dutch territory, and Australia. I did this for Alaska last turn (with the result that I'm sending some shiploads of supplies up that way).
5. Regarding the Alaska shipping, see what's up with that submarine off the entrance to Puget Sound. Its presence is distinctly unwelcome! At least my supply shuttle to Victoria isn't affected by it.
6. Anything else I happen to think of between now and the time I open the game file.
If I remember, I'll post again at the end of the turn.
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
OFF-TOPIC
For anyone who might be interested, while my medical issues are still around I'm much improved. They boil down to two things: diabetic amyotrophy (which results in atrophy of the quadriceps) and a blister on the ball of my foot. The former affects about 1% of Type 2 diabetics, and I got it in both legs so I'm really special! The left leg included a case of drop foot, so I had a brace which, in turn, caused the blister.
Both issues saw a marked improvement over the past 3 weeks. I still use a walker because I have balance issues, but if I'm at home or walking short distances I don't use it. I can do stairs as long as there's a handrail. Other than that, the strength in my legs is probably about 80% back to normal and improving. The blister, which was as deep as it could be, has also healed nicely since I realized the way I was walking on it was an additional issue.
I don't want to bore everybody, so this will be the last post here on the issue. Always willing to talk about it, though, especially if someone else is facing a similar issue and has some trepidation. That's what PMs are for.
For anyone who might be interested, while my medical issues are still around I'm much improved. They boil down to two things: diabetic amyotrophy (which results in atrophy of the quadriceps) and a blister on the ball of my foot. The former affects about 1% of Type 2 diabetics, and I got it in both legs so I'm really special! The left leg included a case of drop foot, so I had a brace which, in turn, caused the blister.
Both issues saw a marked improvement over the past 3 weeks. I still use a walker because I have balance issues, but if I'm at home or walking short distances I don't use it. I can do stairs as long as there's a handrail. Other than that, the strength in my legs is probably about 80% back to normal and improving. The blister, which was as deep as it could be, has also healed nicely since I realized the way I was walking on it was an additional issue.
I don't want to bore everybody, so this will be the last post here on the issue. Always willing to talk about it, though, especially if someone else is facing a similar issue and has some trepidation. That's what PMs are for.
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
Glad to hear you are on the upswing! I can only gripe about the usual aches and pains (and lack of sound sleep) that go with geezerdom, so your post reminds me that I am still pretty lucky (touch wood). It grieves me whenever one of the forum community suffers ill health and drops off line. Feels like I lose a friend I never met ... but miss anyway.
Keep the posts coming - I am reading them even if I don't have comment.
Keep the posts coming - I am reading them even if I don't have comment.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
Thanks, BBfanboy. I know people are reading! (Have you ever wondered about the numbers at the top of my posts? Those are the number of reads at that point.) I appreciate it.
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
2795
01/08/1942
It's on at Johore Bahru! The Japanese have made their opening attack and our units have started their pullback to Singapore. Those with no AV and therefore useless in combat are in Move mode, the others are in Combat mode and employing a fighting withdrawal. Units already in Singapore are on full war footing and ready to defend the island. Although no Japanese shipping has been spotted anywhere in the area, some submarines have been redirected to patrol the approaches to Singapore Harbor, just in case.
In other observations, I continue to be amazed that the Japanese pilots can find a single ship in any water hex in their range, while at the opposite extreme Allied pilots -- if they deign to take off at all -- are lucky to drop their bombs in the right time zone! Fortunately, there haven't been many Japanese air attacks for 2 or 3 days, although this make me wonder whether their planes are just all in need of some maintenance at the same time or they're being rebased. They have plenty of bases in Southeast Asia, and it could be that the planes are being relocated to aid in the attack on Singapore.
I still have no blankety-blank idea where the KB is. I wonder if my search pilots are taking turns sleeping at the controls.
The submarine in the vicinity of Victoria is no longer detected. My convoy headed for Alaska is transiting the strait right now, so tomorrow will likely be the day of reckoning if it's going to come at all. There are two destroyers -- all I had available -- escorting the convoy, but I've seen nothing to give myself great confidence in US ASW capability.
I made it through the laborious process of identifying what all my Chinese ground units need to be doing. Most are retreating to cities before going farther to defensible terrain; this way I can at least exercise some modicum of control over their routes. It also lets me concentrate more units that can move together. Two units in particular, though, are a long way from anywhere so I've started them off toward friendly territory while I perform airborne reconnaissance over Foochow which right now seems to be empty. Should that prove to be the case then I'll redirect these two units -- actually two hexes full of units, as one stack really has four units in it -- to Foochow. There don't appear to be any enemy units elsewhere in the vicinity, either, so taking a short break to recapture one city (and divert his attention) and avail myself of its supplies might be of some benefit. These units really don't have much of a chance otherwise, so what the heck?
I have 7 days before some air units need to be withdrawn, and 25 days for the first ship (unnamed here for OPSEC reasons; we have arrival variability turned on so even with this message it won't be clear exactly what ship(s) this applies to). Someone remind me, since it's easier than trying to find the right search terms -- is the common wisdom that it's better to remove all the pilots before disbanding/withdrawing a squadron, or does it not make any difference?
Per a post I read in the forum, I'm going to move my shipping out of Rangoon one ship at a time, to a couple of different destinations, on an irregular schedule. I'll then bring in supplies in the same fashion. There's no immediate threat to Rangoon, so let's get this going while it's still possible.
Speaking of Rangoon, I am using the bombers based there to attack Japanese troops that are moving up the road on the east side of the gulf. They're being escorted by 1/3 of an AVG squadron, another 1/3 is strafing said troops, and the other 1/3 is providing CAP at Rangoon (the rest of the AVG is still at Taungoo -- I have a basic belief that defending Burma is more important than defending China). I've been minimizing my offense so far, but sometimes its effect can go beyond simply displaying firepower.
That pretty much covers the present situation. Next time, if my memory works properly, I'll give an update on the situation in the central and south Pacific.
01/08/1942
It's on at Johore Bahru! The Japanese have made their opening attack and our units have started their pullback to Singapore. Those with no AV and therefore useless in combat are in Move mode, the others are in Combat mode and employing a fighting withdrawal. Units already in Singapore are on full war footing and ready to defend the island. Although no Japanese shipping has been spotted anywhere in the area, some submarines have been redirected to patrol the approaches to Singapore Harbor, just in case.
In other observations, I continue to be amazed that the Japanese pilots can find a single ship in any water hex in their range, while at the opposite extreme Allied pilots -- if they deign to take off at all -- are lucky to drop their bombs in the right time zone! Fortunately, there haven't been many Japanese air attacks for 2 or 3 days, although this make me wonder whether their planes are just all in need of some maintenance at the same time or they're being rebased. They have plenty of bases in Southeast Asia, and it could be that the planes are being relocated to aid in the attack on Singapore.
I still have no blankety-blank idea where the KB is. I wonder if my search pilots are taking turns sleeping at the controls.
The submarine in the vicinity of Victoria is no longer detected. My convoy headed for Alaska is transiting the strait right now, so tomorrow will likely be the day of reckoning if it's going to come at all. There are two destroyers -- all I had available -- escorting the convoy, but I've seen nothing to give myself great confidence in US ASW capability.
I made it through the laborious process of identifying what all my Chinese ground units need to be doing. Most are retreating to cities before going farther to defensible terrain; this way I can at least exercise some modicum of control over their routes. It also lets me concentrate more units that can move together. Two units in particular, though, are a long way from anywhere so I've started them off toward friendly territory while I perform airborne reconnaissance over Foochow which right now seems to be empty. Should that prove to be the case then I'll redirect these two units -- actually two hexes full of units, as one stack really has four units in it -- to Foochow. There don't appear to be any enemy units elsewhere in the vicinity, either, so taking a short break to recapture one city (and divert his attention) and avail myself of its supplies might be of some benefit. These units really don't have much of a chance otherwise, so what the heck?
I have 7 days before some air units need to be withdrawn, and 25 days for the first ship (unnamed here for OPSEC reasons; we have arrival variability turned on so even with this message it won't be clear exactly what ship(s) this applies to). Someone remind me, since it's easier than trying to find the right search terms -- is the common wisdom that it's better to remove all the pilots before disbanding/withdrawing a squadron, or does it not make any difference?
Per a post I read in the forum, I'm going to move my shipping out of Rangoon one ship at a time, to a couple of different destinations, on an irregular schedule. I'll then bring in supplies in the same fashion. There's no immediate threat to Rangoon, so let's get this going while it's still possible.
Speaking of Rangoon, I am using the bombers based there to attack Japanese troops that are moving up the road on the east side of the gulf. They're being escorted by 1/3 of an AVG squadron, another 1/3 is strafing said troops, and the other 1/3 is providing CAP at Rangoon (the rest of the AVG is still at Taungoo -- I have a basic belief that defending Burma is more important than defending China). I've been minimizing my offense so far, but sometimes its effect can go beyond simply displaying firepower.
That pretty much covers the present situation. Next time, if my memory works properly, I'll give an update on the situation in the central and south Pacific.
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
3452
Yes, this game is still going on. Yes, it's moving at a glacial pace! No, we don't mind; that's why we have each other as opponents -- we both have lives full of other activities and, as sacrilegious as it may sound, WitP isn't our top priority!
I've missed a few turns in the updates, but nothing much happened that's newsworthy so we'll just pick up where we are now. I would like it if we picked up the pace just a little bit!
1/12/42
Some aircraft withdrawals will take place in 3 days, including the ones that are actually doing something in China.
There are 21 days until xAP DOMINION MONARCH withdraws. She is currently in port in Singapore.
No LCU withdrawals are scheduled for months to come.
China
Given the length of time I've been sitting on this turn (I misplaced my notebook, and without it it's nearly impossible to play given the frequency of our turns) I'm going to assume the units in China are still doing what they were told to do a couple turns ago. Spot checks show this to be the case.
Using the longer-range bombers to send some supplies from Kweilin to Kukong. This will be done only for one turn as (a) these are the bombers that will withdraw, and (b) Kweilin isn't exactly blessed with a surplus, itself. However, Kukong is one of the mustering points for the scattered units, and those who are waiting need to eat.
Strategy in China is a general withdrawal, with a couple of detailed thoughts:
1. There is safety in numbers, hence the attempt to amass multiple units to travel together.
2. While the mustering points are all cities, primarily for the defense bonus, some units are blocking strategic intersections outside the cities until the stragglers make it in (or until attack looks imminent).
Malay Peninsula
All ground units in Singapore are either prepped or prepping for that location. Singapore itself has not yet been attacked; I believe David is waiting until he has critical mass assembled in Johore Bahru.
Although recon throughout the war to date has been suspect, to say the least, all appearances are that there are no naval forces in the vicinity nor will there be in the foreseeable future (caveat: I have absolutely no idea where the KB is, but I think I've located the mini-KB). Because they're surprisingly useful for such ancient planes, I'm moving the torpedo bombers, along with the Recon Buffaloes, to other bases. Note to self: remember to keep moving them each turn!
Burma
Units in Pegu have been put into Rest mode. There are enemy units to the east, but if I remember past turns correctly I have some time before they can move far enough to enter Pegu. Even two or three turns of rest will help the defense effort.
There are some Allied units in Moulmein who don't have a clear path to Rangoon so plan to defend in Moulmein. Enemy units to the SW are being targeted by air from Rangoon (with the usual lack of results). The air units aren't even returning good intelligence.
Borneo
Three units in the hex to the east of Pontianak are pretty much done for. They have no supplies and AVs of 3, 2, and 0. I've been trying to come up with some kind of poetic tribute, but my brain isn't working that way tonight.
The units forced out of Tarakan into Tandjoengaelor are similarly low on AV but have better supplies. Still, it doesn't seem to be enough for them to get anywhere else. We offer the same lack of poetic tribute to them.
A large surface TF is sitting SW of Balikpapan, the only hex to move into from the port. I'm sending a Dutch submarine to see if it can raise some interest (at least their torpedoes work!).
Philippines
Enemy troops are far superior in Manila; the city will be lost soon. If they can hold on for one more day we might be able to evacuate the remaining aircraft (which have said "repairs in 1 day" for a lot longer than that).
Four ships remain in the harbor at Manila. Two are viable, the other won't be close to seaworthy before the city falls. The good ones have been rebased to Bataan.
Supplies are low at Batangas, where we have our fighter aircraft. We'll have to consider relocating them very soon.
There are two enemy TFs outside Bataan, one to the SW (surface) and one to the W (mini-KB). Our submarines haven't done a good job of even finding them, let alone sending them to Davy Jones's locker.
Incredibly, Iba is still in Allied hands although it is surrounded by Japanese-held property. I'm attempting to move out the two ground units still there, but we'll have to see what happens. Might as well die trying to join their comrades as defending an unused airfield.
India
No news. I didn't even think to look at this theater until I started writing this report.
Southwest Pacific
Two ground units on New Britain are making their way to Gasmata. The direction arrow on their pursuer indicates the enemy has turned around and is heading back to Rabaul; we'll hope that's the case. There is a transport TF waiting to report to Gasmata to pick up these units, and we'll try to time the arrivals of the two forces at the same time.
Enemy SS activity outside Auckland continues to be ridiculous -- four submarines just marking time! I don't know what they think is left that's worthy of their attention, so I guess I can be grateful they're hanging around there and not off doing something really harmful. On the other hand, what's just as ridiculous is the total lack of results of my ASW efforts.
Fiji is starting to run low on supplies. Wellington doesn't have a lot of surplus, but I'll run a small xAKL from there up to Suva. There are more supplies available in Christchurch, but by the time a ship gets there, loads, and makes it to Suva the follow-up load from Australia will have arrived or be just one or two days out. That's not worth taking some of New Zealand's precious supply for.
Central Pacific
Nothing much happening except that supplies have finally arrived at Christmas Island and are being unloaded. Penrhyn Island is alarmingly low on supplies itself, and there is a US Navy unit sitting there, so I'm going to try to stop unloading when there's just a little left and send the task force on to Penrhyn.
Alaska
There has been no enemy presence except for one harassing submarine a couple weeks ago. We would at least like to have some good patrol aircraft in this sector, in case the enemy tries to take the northern route to the States.
There is a transport TF in Dutch Harbor. Its name is "Evac Naga-BNE" (BNE is the airport code for Brisbane). What's it doing in DUT??? I must have rerouted it due to enemy shipping and either I didn't notice when it arrived or it just got there. It's empty, so now that it's refueled I'm sending it on to San Francisco.
Supplies are finally being unloaded at Umnak after two different sets of garbled orders. Engineers on the island apparently were just delivered as they're still in Strategic mode (well, they were; now they're in Combat mode). Their job will be to build up the airfield as quickly as possible.
North America
There a lot of air and ground units sitting in the Eastern USA, training. When I'm able to look at the game again (it is tax season, after all; results not guaranteed) I'll have to see how far along they all are in their training. Didn't want to take the time this turn.
Part of me says I should take the Canadian units garrisoning the interior cities and at least move them to the west coast (they're in restricted commands and will stay for Home Defense regardless). The other part of me says I should stick to the spirit of what their role is and leave them where they are. There's no rush, so I'll wait but will likely decide to go ahead and move them. We're playing with no house rules, after all (none beyond the very first turn, that is).
Yes, this game is still going on. Yes, it's moving at a glacial pace! No, we don't mind; that's why we have each other as opponents -- we both have lives full of other activities and, as sacrilegious as it may sound, WitP isn't our top priority!
I've missed a few turns in the updates, but nothing much happened that's newsworthy so we'll just pick up where we are now. I would like it if we picked up the pace just a little bit!
1/12/42
Some aircraft withdrawals will take place in 3 days, including the ones that are actually doing something in China.
There are 21 days until xAP DOMINION MONARCH withdraws. She is currently in port in Singapore.
No LCU withdrawals are scheduled for months to come.
China
Given the length of time I've been sitting on this turn (I misplaced my notebook, and without it it's nearly impossible to play given the frequency of our turns) I'm going to assume the units in China are still doing what they were told to do a couple turns ago. Spot checks show this to be the case.
Using the longer-range bombers to send some supplies from Kweilin to Kukong. This will be done only for one turn as (a) these are the bombers that will withdraw, and (b) Kweilin isn't exactly blessed with a surplus, itself. However, Kukong is one of the mustering points for the scattered units, and those who are waiting need to eat.
Strategy in China is a general withdrawal, with a couple of detailed thoughts:
1. There is safety in numbers, hence the attempt to amass multiple units to travel together.
2. While the mustering points are all cities, primarily for the defense bonus, some units are blocking strategic intersections outside the cities until the stragglers make it in (or until attack looks imminent).
Malay Peninsula
All ground units in Singapore are either prepped or prepping for that location. Singapore itself has not yet been attacked; I believe David is waiting until he has critical mass assembled in Johore Bahru.
Although recon throughout the war to date has been suspect, to say the least, all appearances are that there are no naval forces in the vicinity nor will there be in the foreseeable future (caveat: I have absolutely no idea where the KB is, but I think I've located the mini-KB). Because they're surprisingly useful for such ancient planes, I'm moving the torpedo bombers, along with the Recon Buffaloes, to other bases. Note to self: remember to keep moving them each turn!
Burma
Units in Pegu have been put into Rest mode. There are enemy units to the east, but if I remember past turns correctly I have some time before they can move far enough to enter Pegu. Even two or three turns of rest will help the defense effort.
There are some Allied units in Moulmein who don't have a clear path to Rangoon so plan to defend in Moulmein. Enemy units to the SW are being targeted by air from Rangoon (with the usual lack of results). The air units aren't even returning good intelligence.
Borneo
Three units in the hex to the east of Pontianak are pretty much done for. They have no supplies and AVs of 3, 2, and 0. I've been trying to come up with some kind of poetic tribute, but my brain isn't working that way tonight.
The units forced out of Tarakan into Tandjoengaelor are similarly low on AV but have better supplies. Still, it doesn't seem to be enough for them to get anywhere else. We offer the same lack of poetic tribute to them.
A large surface TF is sitting SW of Balikpapan, the only hex to move into from the port. I'm sending a Dutch submarine to see if it can raise some interest (at least their torpedoes work!).
Philippines
Enemy troops are far superior in Manila; the city will be lost soon. If they can hold on for one more day we might be able to evacuate the remaining aircraft (which have said "repairs in 1 day" for a lot longer than that).
Four ships remain in the harbor at Manila. Two are viable, the other won't be close to seaworthy before the city falls. The good ones have been rebased to Bataan.
Supplies are low at Batangas, where we have our fighter aircraft. We'll have to consider relocating them very soon.
There are two enemy TFs outside Bataan, one to the SW (surface) and one to the W (mini-KB). Our submarines haven't done a good job of even finding them, let alone sending them to Davy Jones's locker.
Incredibly, Iba is still in Allied hands although it is surrounded by Japanese-held property. I'm attempting to move out the two ground units still there, but we'll have to see what happens. Might as well die trying to join their comrades as defending an unused airfield.
India
No news. I didn't even think to look at this theater until I started writing this report.
Southwest Pacific
Two ground units on New Britain are making their way to Gasmata. The direction arrow on their pursuer indicates the enemy has turned around and is heading back to Rabaul; we'll hope that's the case. There is a transport TF waiting to report to Gasmata to pick up these units, and we'll try to time the arrivals of the two forces at the same time.
Enemy SS activity outside Auckland continues to be ridiculous -- four submarines just marking time! I don't know what they think is left that's worthy of their attention, so I guess I can be grateful they're hanging around there and not off doing something really harmful. On the other hand, what's just as ridiculous is the total lack of results of my ASW efforts.
Fiji is starting to run low on supplies. Wellington doesn't have a lot of surplus, but I'll run a small xAKL from there up to Suva. There are more supplies available in Christchurch, but by the time a ship gets there, loads, and makes it to Suva the follow-up load from Australia will have arrived or be just one or two days out. That's not worth taking some of New Zealand's precious supply for.
Central Pacific
Nothing much happening except that supplies have finally arrived at Christmas Island and are being unloaded. Penrhyn Island is alarmingly low on supplies itself, and there is a US Navy unit sitting there, so I'm going to try to stop unloading when there's just a little left and send the task force on to Penrhyn.
Alaska
There has been no enemy presence except for one harassing submarine a couple weeks ago. We would at least like to have some good patrol aircraft in this sector, in case the enemy tries to take the northern route to the States.
There is a transport TF in Dutch Harbor. Its name is "Evac Naga-BNE" (BNE is the airport code for Brisbane). What's it doing in DUT??? I must have rerouted it due to enemy shipping and either I didn't notice when it arrived or it just got there. It's empty, so now that it's refueled I'm sending it on to San Francisco.
Supplies are finally being unloaded at Umnak after two different sets of garbled orders. Engineers on the island apparently were just delivered as they're still in Strategic mode (well, they were; now they're in Combat mode). Their job will be to build up the airfield as quickly as possible.
North America
There a lot of air and ground units sitting in the Eastern USA, training. When I'm able to look at the game again (it is tax season, after all; results not guaranteed) I'll have to see how far along they all are in their training. Didn't want to take the time this turn.
Part of me says I should take the Canadian units garrisoning the interior cities and at least move them to the west coast (they're in restricted commands and will stay for Home Defense regardless). The other part of me says I should stick to the spirit of what their role is and leave them where they are. There's no rush, so I'll wait but will likely decide to go ahead and move them. We're playing with no house rules, after all (none beyond the very first turn, that is).
RE: Dave, David; Potato, Potahto -- CaptDave (A) v. David the Great (J)
3794
Believe it or not, this game is still going on. We seem to be averaging about a turn per month right now, but since tax season is over I do have a little more time to devote to it. What I do find at this glacial pace is that I have to spend way too much time remembering what I'm doing!
Right now I'm reviewing the situation as I await the next turn (David always sends a pre-move file with the combat file so I can at least be looking at the latest turn before I get the one that's actually in play). At this precise instant I'm at the office taking a quick break so I don't have the game open, but here are my conclusions so far as I remember them:
∙ I need to pay more attention to who's commanding my submarines. Unfortunately, I can only look at each commander's statistics when the sub is in port, so I'm limited to the two brand-new ones I have (and they're both immensely satisfactory).
∙ Submarine patrol areas need to be revised, as well. Haven't had an attack in ages!
∙ I need a 120" screen so I can open the strategic map and see everything at a readable scale. [:)] (Seriously, I'm nearsighted and don't need any help reading the screen, but it would be nice to see the whole thing at once and be able to identify individual Pacific islands.)
∙ I want the larger map so I can set up supply lines with reasonable intermediate support points for the times they're needed. For this rough purpose I can make do with the old WitP printed map, which is still on my wall.
There's more, but I'm getting distracted by office conversation. Hope to receive a turn soon, then get my part done and report back to my loyal readers!
Believe it or not, this game is still going on. We seem to be averaging about a turn per month right now, but since tax season is over I do have a little more time to devote to it. What I do find at this glacial pace is that I have to spend way too much time remembering what I'm doing!
Right now I'm reviewing the situation as I await the next turn (David always sends a pre-move file with the combat file so I can at least be looking at the latest turn before I get the one that's actually in play). At this precise instant I'm at the office taking a quick break so I don't have the game open, but here are my conclusions so far as I remember them:
∙ I need to pay more attention to who's commanding my submarines. Unfortunately, I can only look at each commander's statistics when the sub is in port, so I'm limited to the two brand-new ones I have (and they're both immensely satisfactory).
∙ Submarine patrol areas need to be revised, as well. Haven't had an attack in ages!
∙ I need a 120" screen so I can open the strategic map and see everything at a readable scale. [:)] (Seriously, I'm nearsighted and don't need any help reading the screen, but it would be nice to see the whole thing at once and be able to identify individual Pacific islands.)
∙ I want the larger map so I can set up supply lines with reasonable intermediate support points for the times they're needed. For this rough purpose I can make do with the old WitP printed map, which is still on my wall.
There's more, but I'm getting distracted by office conversation. Hope to receive a turn soon, then get my part done and report back to my loyal readers!