The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Canoerebel]

I think that's right, but I'm testing it once. If they don't fly, I'll target port tomorrow. I should've used alternate primary and secondary missions.

[witpqs]

Bill is right - airfield size 0 means "no airfield".

[JocMeister]

Any chance we could get a screen of the current situation on the ground in Sumatra? [:)]

[Encircled]

Is John on his toes? A four-DD Allied TF just sailed between the islands off of Soerabaja undetected. Tomorrow they'll take patrol station two hexes from both Balikpapan and Samarinda. The hope is that it will stumble across a tanker or supply convoy.

So you just sailed a 4 strong DD force bwtweeen his best naval base in the Southern DEI and one of his principle oil and fuel centres, and you were not detected?

He should have that area tied up in a knot with air search and naval patrols! (I have holes in my air/naval search, but not near anywhere an area as important as that!)

[Canoerebel]

Here's a screenshot of the raiding USN DDs in the DEI. The TF is made up of two Mahan class destroyers and two Bagley class. This TF has been operating out of Perth since before the invasion. A few weeks ago, she tangled with a Japanese supply TF SE of Soerabaja, sinking a handful of xAKL and the like. After that clash she retired to Perth to refuel and rearm. I sent her back to patrol the same vicinity but figured John would have Nav Search up. When she arrived just SE of Soerabaja without detection, I decided to take a chance and send her towards Balikpapan. As you can see, no detection.

[KenchiSulla]

That is very sloppy.... John seems to be very offensive minded. Did he ever play a game into 1944?

[Canoerebel]

Joc, here's the up-to-date map of the Battle of Sumatra.

The key Allied stack in the jungle hex (2x) south of Langsa currently has 1300 AV, including three divisions (two USA, one Indian, two US tank units, and a mishmash of others). This is a key point of the battle.

The Japanese units in the hex just arrived this turn, so I don't yet have info on the makeup. But I think this will be the schwerpunkt of five or more Japanese divisions.

If John can punch a hole through this stack, then everything lines up for him pretty well and he'll retake the island in two months or less. If he can't punch a hole, then he has to win the batte at air and sea. That's where the fun lies.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder

That is very sloppy.... John seems to be very offensive minded. Did he ever play a game into 1944?

John is well-known for his aggressive offensive nature. He's John Bell Hood or Stonewall Jackson with his fleet and air. He loves big raids. He loves the offensive. He is not fond of the defensive. But he is an experienced player who when fully engaged can perform well defensively.

He has three things working against him in this game: (1) he's allowed Sumatra to absord his full focus, (2) he's offensive minded, meaning if he has holes in his game, it's things like this, and (3) he's playing three games right now while fully employed and a father of two boys, so he has little time to devote to housekeeping things like this.

John has played deep into games before. He and I had an epic WitP game that went into mid or late 1944 about eight years ago.

Bottom line: John's a pretty good player, pretty tough on offense in particular, and experienced enough to be dangerous in every aspect of the game. But he's not invincible.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Joc, here's the up-to-date map of the Battle of Sumatra.

The key Allied stack in the jungle hex (2x) south of Langsa currently has 1300 AV, including three divisions (two USA, one Indian, two US tank units, and a mishmash of others). This is a key point of the battle.

The Japanese units in the hex just arrived this turn, so I don't yet have info on the makeup. But I think this will be the schwerpunkt of five or more Japanese divisions.

If John can punch a hole through this stack, then everything lines up for him pretty well and he'll retake the island in two months or less. If he can't punch a hole, then he has to win the batte at air and sea. That's where the fun lies.

Thanks for the map. Makes it easier to follow. [:)]

Have the troops had time to dig in some? You should be able to hold there against 5 Japanese IDs with some forts and the terrain. What tanks are in the US tank battalions? Stuarts? Or have they upgraded to Shermans? If the latter John will have a really hard time to dislodge you.

[Canoerebel]

1/19/43

Battle of Sumatra: Very sharp naval engagement at Sabang. CAs Hagura and Ashigara come into port escorted by four DDs. The port is defended by three Allied CL/DD TFs, PT boat TFs, and mines. Both sides take heavy losses in the ensuing engagements, but the sinking of CA Ashigara has strategic implications (it's the second Japanese CA sunk in this vicinity in the past week, following Takoa). I think John has lost around seven to nine CAs now. The Japanese also lost three modest-value DDs. The Allies lost three CLs (Helena, Achilles and Caradoc). CA New Orleans ttook modest damage but will hang around to provide defense until replacements arrive in two or three days. (New Orleans has been shot up all over the map during this game). The trouble for the Japanese TF included mine hits by Ashigara and a DD. There is a fair chance this experience will dissuade John from trying surface raids at Sabang again. Maybe, maybe not. No IJ air sweeps at Sabang today. The Allies will send another CA/CL/DD TF from Colombo to Sabang. I'd be worried about carriers intercepting, but a large carrier force is sighted by PBYs patrolling SE of Singapore (having nav search this deep into enemy territory is helpful). I think all of John's carriers are replenishing, though there's a chance one or two of the TFs are still lurking.

In this theater, the Allies have plenty of good CAs and a decent number of CLs. So making good these losses won't be difficult at present. The real shortage is in DDs. I need around 20 more but only have about eight to ten that are inbound, some from Capetown and some on the way from East Coast.

Battle of Burma: This time the tables are fliipped in the air war, with Allied fighters chewing up unescorted Japanese bombers. This occurred over Royal Thai Div. 1/A north of Magwe. A small Allied army just arrived in this hex and will attack here tomorrow. In the main battle hex just south of Magwe, a tattered 41st USA Div. just arrived. It's the only Allied unit there with suppy. The IJ army there is pretty beat up, so 41st Div. will attack tomorrow. F4Fs from Ramree will provide LRCAP and B-25Cs from Chittagong are supposed to hit the hex, but have a record of declining to do so on previous occasions.

On His Toes?: The Allied DD TF takes station two hexes from Balikpapan. It doesn't encounter enemy shipping. And there's no detection by enemy nav search. I've reset the patrol stations to include both Balikpapan and Samarinda. Mines may be an issue, but it's worth a shot at vulnerable enemy shipping at important places And while sinking ships will be exellent for morale (and the opposite for John's), the ultimate goal of this raid is to expose John's vulnerability so that he has to draw down some of the forces committed to Sumatra.

[Canoerebel]

The tanks are Stuarts. Most of the units are behind one fort. Supply is good. Thus far John hasn't tried massed bombing runs against this stack. But my previous experience is that he'll have some difficulties given the terrain. I wouldn't be surprised if he bombards in that hex tomorrow and then attacks the following day when all his units are present. He'll preceed the attack with a concerted bombing effort. So I'll need to consider flying some LRCAP.

[Canoerebel]

I just checked the status of the oil production at Medan. John recaptured the base two or three days back. In doing so, he beat up 1st Marines and an Indian division that lagged behind the other Allied units withdrawing from the hex. Perhaps this was fortuitious, because the Allied units apparently did a number on oil production there. A mouseover shows 2(209). If I'm reading that right it's a significant blow to Japan.

[Lecivius]

"General, Shortcut, Compatibility, Security and Details"

You are not right clicking on the .exe shortcut. Don't feel bad, I watched my mother throw a Grade A tantrum and smash her keyboard just because she could not get her fax machine to send ( 2 totally different machines [:D] )

I suspect you will need to do a rather long call with a forumite, sending a few emails back & forth, with someone on this forum to get yourself squared away. I cannot do it while at work M-F, but I would be more than willing to volunteer in the wee hours of the night, or on a weekend sometime. Or I am 100% certain someone else here you are comfortable with would be happy to sit down with you on the phone & walk you through it. It just takes a bit of patience, and a cup of coffee (or whatever floats your boat [;)] )

[Lecivius]

As an example, this is a screen shot of the properties of an .exe. or executable file (this makes the program run).

[Lecivius]

This is a screen shot of a simple data file, in this case a .pdf, also known as an adobe file.

[Lecivius]

Note that the executable file has the 'shortcut' everyone is talking about, that data file has the 4 tabs you describe. Does that help?

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

Note that the executable file has the 'shortcut' everyone is talking about, that data file has the 4 tabs you describe. Does that help?

You can lead them to water but getting them to click on the shortcut tab, now that's the trick!!!

Seriously though, this was hard for me to understand until I focused on it a while and now I only need to do it just shortly after I have forgotten how again!!

[witpqs]

CR,

I've been working on a guide for technically challenged AE players that would cover certain things, shortcuts being one of them. It is not finished, so I don't want to post the document itself (it will be a PDF), but a bunch of it is in place, although not polished. Specifically, I have a number of screen pics showing shortcuts.

Do you already have a shortcut that you click on to start the game? I presume "yes", and so I will skip all the pics related to creating a new shortcut. I am going to paste the remaining shortcut pics here now, in order.

Suppose that this is the shortcut that you have (it need not be on the desktop as this one is, it can be anywhere). You right-click on it and then click on "Properties".

[witpqs]

You will then see something like this.

[witpqs]

This marked up pic explains a few things.