The little ship that could.

[Lecivius]

[british exil]

Something is going to boom.

Will the bomb be dropped? Can Japan thwart the bomber with their cap?

Mt Odake is being used by many of the circling fighters, Mt Fuji one way point, the imperial palace another, Mt Odake the last.

There will be nearly three hundred of them involved today.............armed to the teeth, of course.
But few, if any, expecting any real action this week.

They, of course, are going to very, very wrong

Some pilot may just get a lucky hit, maybe ram the bomber.

How much luck can Long Pig have?


Nail-biting suspense.


Mat

[AllenK]

This AAR has been a brilliant read. I don't even own WITP:AE, let alone played it and I've been captivated. Also, well done to Cantona for carrying on the game and allowing the drama to continue.

[Mike McCreery]

Personally I have a problem with the scoring of the game regarding the dropping of the Atomic Bomb.

I am not sure why the game designers felt the need to penalize the Allies for using them when they did so historically.

[1275psi]

..............."latest intelligence is that the Emperor of Japan has retired to a sanitorium 40 miles north of Tokyo, located near Mt Odare"
Therefore you are ordered to deliver the special bomb today to Tokyo, secondary target Osaka."

Thus it is ordered, thus it will be done.

The Land of Japan is still dark as Mt Fuji looms into view on the horizon, its peak already lit by the sun climbing over the horizon, already bathing the two great bombers in its soft early glow.

The sky up here is clear, but to the north heavy and dark, a front due to sweep in by midday.
Not only clear, but smooth, and cold
Longpig shifts his arse on the seat (its considerably smaller now since the wars begginning) and raises his glasses again, seeking Fuji, seeking in the grey light below Tokyo bay ahead.
And there it is, glittering................the city coming into view

he glances over to the Enola Gay, and wonders at the weapon soon to be released. he cannot imagine the millions ahead having any idea of what comes swiftly their way.
The laughing clown sways in the first bump in the road for the day, Mt fuji begins to slide down the port side.
Long pig takes a deep breath.
"Its only another bombing run.........only just another bombing run"

Tokyo bay glitters

But above it, something else sparkles in the light as they climb from the dark into it, rising towards them swiftly and surely.

Fighters
lots of fighters

No.................and the blood freezes
SWARMS of the barsted..................

[1275psi]

'pass the 9/16th open ender brother"
Okano fishes in the toll bag, locates the dull spanner, passes it to Hirate
"Thankyou"
"OK, ready?"
"yes"
Together the two men lift the oil pump assembly, and gently slide it into the casing of the condensate pump, carefully checking that its drive has engaged properly.
Swiftly the bolts go in, and the 9/16th spanner goes to work

"Do you think Japan will ever give up?" Hirate wonders aloud
"Not too loud, you idiot, what if someone hears?"
"Oh lay of, you know everyone is thinking about it"

Okano does not immediately answer, concentrating on the bolts
"I suppose, but I think only the Emperor could really order it..........and if HIS life or status was threatened.."
Both men speak the words together, words 100 million others would share

"We would fight until the very, very end"

[1275psi]

and now I have to go out all day..............and so much to write about
comments appreciated.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

and now I have to go out all day..............and so much to write about
comments appreciated.

"Stay home and write!"

[:D]

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

and now I have to go out all day..............and so much to write about
comments appreciated.

"Stay home and write!"

[:D]

Relax, forumites! This all part of the great tease that 1275 PSI has used all through the AAR to keep us sitting at the edge of our seats - and to double the number of hits on this AAR! [;)]

[british exil]

It's 2:36am here.

The other side of the world is waiting to hear what on earth is happening in the skies of Japan.

Get back to your pc and write!!!

Mat

[sanch]

Gawd, the suspense is killing me! I'm checking this AAR at least 5 times daily...

[1275psi]

Both bombers are almost immediately in trouble

There are simply scores of zeros climbing towards them, most of them however simply cannot catch them at this hieght, this speed.
Not the oscars, nor all but a handful of the tojos and Franks
But there are a dozen or more squat nosed fighters, new to everyone on the bombers, focke wulf like, that not only easily reach them, but climb above and level, and then sweep in, cannons firing

It happens extrodinarily fast,
A fighter screams in , head on at them, the cockpit explodes into glass, blood, a dismembered limb, a headless torso, and a howling, screaming gale
The "laughing clown" lurches, rolls, wings go vertical

And yet again, longpig finds himself struggling to remove a a body from the command seat of a dying of a bomber in the heart of a hurricane, surrounded by blood and gore, the remains of friends

This time is different though.............he's never flown a B-29 before...................



The Enola gay goes to full throttle and tries to climb.


Tokyo crawls by 5 miles below..



Some here may recall a little tale told of a certain old man in the grounds of the palace himself trying to whip a group of boys into an AA team.
That was nearly two years ago..............
Even the worst can be brought to a degree of competence in two years..........

Enola Gays port inner explodes, a first shot hit from boys long trained into men.............
And the fighters close in



Long pig hauls, without quite knowing how he has done it, the Laughing Clown back onto an even keel, she is nose down, but still on course.
Behind him the rattle, the banging of rounds stitching them yet again........

The enola gay wheels past and under him, heading almost 90 degrees to them..fighters glued to her tail..........The laughing clown,,,,,,,,,,,apt name to this circus, what ringmaster planned this joke of a show
She vanishes from sight, trailing flame and smoke, northwards



Then there is no more time for anything else but trying to breath, trying to fly, trying to get home................

[1275psi]

dawn
Mt Odare
40 miles north of Tokyo

a pretty valley, a reservoir, beautiful forests, rolling hills
The Horse shifts uneasily under the Emperors seat, unerved undoubtably by the snarling fighters above

he holds the horse, instictively tightening the riens, and peers upwards

he see's it immediately, the B-29, trailing smoke, and smiles in satisfaction at the hawks following it.
Something detaches from the bomber, bombs?..no............too large for that............and his eyes follow the bomber as it passes from view, the fighters peeling away, satisfied with their work.
There is a parachute..........almost directly overhead

A man?

The world , at that moment, seems to take a deep breath.



He is Japans emperor
Descendent of the gods himself, gods of the sun
Now, momentarily, as the Atomic fire surrounds him, he returns to its core






Atomic bomb attack :Tokyo
1 times B-29 damaged



There is next to no damage to Tokyo, it loses 25 manpower, 50 resources, a little HI(49 points)
As far as I can tell


They missed.

[british exil]

He is Japans emperor
Descendent of the gods himself, gods of the sun
Now, momentarily, as the Atomic fire surrounds him, he returns to its core

The leader has left this world?
Who will resume control?

There is next to no damage to Tokyo, it loses 25 manpower, 50 resources, a little HI(49 points)

How much manpower, resources and HI does Tokyo have?
(Do not own the game, but love the AAR's)


Mat

[Lowpe]

Dodged a bullet...or not.[&:]

What does this mean for Japan? Military Junta?

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: british exil

There is next to no damage to Tokyo, it loses 25 manpower, 50 resources, a little HI(49 points)

How much manpower, resources and HI does Tokyo have?
(Do not own the game, but love the AAR's)


Mat

For Stock game Scenario 1 Tokyo's industry numbers are:
Manpower 162
Resources 280
Oil 5
Heavy Industry 2730
Refinery 200
Light Industry 2240
Naval Shipyard 97
Merchant Shipyard 70
Repair Shipyard 10
Armament Assembly 140
+ various Aero Engine and Aircraft Assembly plants (for which the player can change models and number of production points)

PS - those are the numbers at game start - they can be expanded by the Japanese player, or the Armament Assy converted to Vehicle Assembly.

[witpqs]

Recon first turn after an event is notoriously inaccurate.

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Recon first turn after an event is notoriously inaccurate.

Except for the fact that 1275psi is playing the Japanese and didnt bomb himself. I dont think fog of war applies here [:D]

[witpqs]

Well... er, so that's the problem - he's playing the wrong side! [:D]

[1275psi]

The bomb has missed

It has also detonated far closer to ground than intended, here in the mountains, not the Tokyo plain
But it has still worked.
The reservoir has vanished, evaporated.
The Sanitorioum, its inhabitants also, evaporated
The small village to the east of the reservoir wall is flattened, charred, wiped away.
But the majority of the blast is contained in the valley.

Tokyo hears it, many even see the flash, and the towering mushroom cloud on the horizon.........

But only, at this moment, do a very few understand it.