Tale of the Sheep! - JocMeister (A) vs. Lowpe (J)

[RangerJoe]

Congratulations on quitting. If you don't mind a suggestion, consider getting a spicy gum or candy to distract your mouth. Also, consider getting a thing to exercise your hand as well. There are various balls and gel items available.

[Rio Bravo]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

We're all pulling for you Joc.

Have you ever read the novel To Kill a Mockingbird? IMHO it's the best work of fiction ever written by an American. One small vignette in the book is about an old lady trying to kick an addiction (I think it's morphine, in her case) as a resolution before she dies. It's a very tough battle but she wins out in the end. After she dies, I think the character Atticus Finch concludes something like this: "She was one of the bravest ladies I've ever known."

Canorebel-

I completely agree with you. I think everyone should read "To Kill a Mockingbird" as it illustrates how a person can and should live with integrity and honor in the face of overwhelming criticism of one's values and stance to abide by them. It is a wonderful book that can persuade others to treat everyone with decency and respect rather than to jump to conclusions and be bigoted.

Best Regards,

Terry

P.S. Good luck Jock and kicking the nicotine addiction.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Congratulations on quitting. If you don't mind a suggestion, consider getting a spicy gum or candy to distract your mouth. Also, consider getting a thing to exercise your hand as well. There are various balls and gel items available.

Thanks, I´m chewing through A LOT of chewing gum right now. Dislike the sweetness of them but as you say its a good distraction! I´m definitively past the worst part now. Feel a little better each day! [&o]

Decided to quit drinking for a while too. Alcohol has always made my craving for nicotine skyrocket. Besides a month or more of sobriety can´t hurt! At least I don´t think so! [:D]

PS. Eating candy right now. And I don´t even like candy!

[JocMeister]

PS. Update coming tomorrow.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Congratulations on quitting. If you don't mind a suggestion, consider getting a spicy gum or candy to distract your mouth. Also, consider getting a thing to exercise your hand as well. There are various balls and gel items available.

Thanks, I´m chewing through A LOT of chewing gum right now. Dislike the sweetness of them but as you say its a good distraction! I´m definitively past the worst part now. Feel a little better each day! [&o]

Decided to quit drinking for a while too. Alcohol has always made my craving for nicotine skyrocket. Besides a month or more of sobriety can´t hurt! At least I don´t think so! [:D]

PS. Eating candy right now. And I don´t even like candy!

Swedish fish?! I don't like them either.

Sour Patch Kids, though... those are dangerous.

[geiramk]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Swedish fish?! I don't like them either.

[/lurk]

Hey, who can object to Swedish fish?


(hope the 'surströmming' image I'm trying to attach embeds ok in the message... Haven't tried it before, and preview shows nothing)

[lurk]

[BillBrown]

I had to google surströmming, and it does seem to be a bit different, I don't think I could aquire the taste for it.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna
Swedish fish?! I don't like them either.

Sour Patch Kids, though... those are dangerous.

I like Sour Patch Kids but it was Bassetts wine gum. [:D]

ORIGINAL: Saltcreep

Welcome! [:)]

Surtströmming is pretty horrible unless you eat it the right way! [:D]

ORIGINAL: BillBrown
I had to google surströmming, and it does seem to be a bit different, I don't think I could aquire the taste for it.

Jamie Oliver tried it and actually enjoyed it! He did have some "nubbe" before though... [:D]

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]8th-10th August -42[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

A three day update. Turns will be even slower next week as Jeff will do a lot of travelling.

------------------------
NORPAC
------------------------
Overall pretty quiet. Jeff is bringing the hammer to Vancouver on the 10th though. [X(]

Morning Air attack on Vancouver , at 209,49

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 43 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 2
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 38

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
38 x Ki-44-IIa Tojo sweeping at 20000 feet

During the day about 100 fighters sweep Vancouver followed by around the same number of bombers. They do some damage and start some fires.

Morning Air attack on Vancouver , at 209,49

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 102 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
G3M2 Nell x 24
G4M1 Betty x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 6 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak

Manpower hits 22
Fires 1974

This comes with a prize though. 14 bombers are shot down by flak during the raids.

------------------------
India
------------------------
Moving some SCTFs towards the coast probing the NavS. Other then that we are still waiting for the upgrades to finish and the 1st Marines to arrive to Calcutta.

------------------------
China
------------------------
Panzer Armee continues to seal club its way... [8|]

Ground combat at 74,52 (near Tuyun)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25625 troops, 395 guns, 1280 vehicles, Assault Value = 1455

Defending force 44760 troops, 116 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 611

Japanese adjusted assault: 368

Allied adjusted defense: 535

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
248 casualties reported [8|]
Squads: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 63 (3 destroyed, 60 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
2125 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 195 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled

Assaulting units:
104th Division
11th Tank Regiment
3rd Tank Regiment
5th Tank Regiment
51st Division
1st Tank Regiment
10th Tank Regiment
7th Tank Regiment
6th Tank Regiment
7th Ind.Tank Brigade
Guards Tank Division
22nd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
21st Mortar Battalion
9th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
11th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
Botanko Hvy Gun Regiment
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
23rd Army
Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment

Defending units:
92nd Chinese Corps
52nd Chinese Corps
10th Chinese Corps
11th Chinese Corps
99th Chinese Corps
4th War Area
9th Group Army

Supply continues to be the main culprit. This is how things look when Chinese troops do have supply.

Ground combat at Lanchow (81,34)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 34820 troops, 289 guns, 35 vehicles, Assault Value = 1041

Defending force 40070 troops, 223 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1300

Japanese adjusted assault: 1214

Allied adjusted defense: 1205

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 4)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 3

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
6173 casualties reported
Squads: 148 destroyed, 264 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 76 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 46 disabled
Guns lost 61 (4 destroyed, 57 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
727 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 67 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled

Assaulting units:
1st Ind.Mixed Brigade
13th Indpt Infantry Regiment
27th Division
2nd Ind.Mixed Brigade
11th Indpt Infantry Regiment
26th Engineer Regiment
Mongol Garrison Army
21st AA Regiment
11th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
3rd Chinese Corps
34th Chinese Corps
77th Chinese Corps
82nd Chinese Corps
8th War Area
8th Chinese Base Force
10th Chinese Base Force

------------------------
SOPAC
------------------------
We continue to hit the BF at Belep. It should be completely disabled soon! In fact no patrols seem to have been flying on the 10th. [:)]

Morning Air attack on 36th JNAF AF Unit , at 112,155 (Belep Islands)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 9

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

[ny59giants]

Can we get a screenshot with update on what's happening and being planned for in India??

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Can we get a screenshot with update on what's happening and being planned for in India??

I´ll try to get something up during the day. Kids are sick again....

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]11th August -42[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

Jeff is out of town so the next turn will be a while. He did send the replay before he left though.

------------------------
NORPAC
------------------------
Bombing of Vancouver continues. Some fires are started. Estimated Japanese losses 4-8 planes. No sweeps this time?

------------------------
India
------------------------
Nothing.

------------------------
China
------------------------
Another roadblock is overrun. The Japanese Panzer Armee finally broke through. The defenders has been without supply for several months so they performed admirably. Losses are surprisingly light.


Ground combat at 74,52 (near Tuyun)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 41833 troops, 524 guns, 1366 vehicles, Assault Value = 1513

Defending force 28591 troops, 72 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 349

Japanese adjusted assault: 940

Allied adjusted defense: 250

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
316 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 48 (1 destroyed, 47 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
9162 casualties reported
Squads: 386 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 346 destroyed, 50 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 16 (12 destroyed, 4 disabled)

I´ve set a trap for him at Tuyun. The elite 66th Corps is waiting there. 600ish AV 62 EXP. Tuyun is a 3x hex with level 4 forts. Shocking into that could prove tough. At least I hope so. They won´t be overstacked either and once the routed units have passed through I have reinforcements waiting to flood in.

I´ll try and get a map up.

------------------------
SOPAC
------------------------
Nothing happening. Shuffling stuff around. Fuel is slowly becoming a problem again as I have hundreds of ships moving around. I´ve set aside a reserve of 120k for the USN and given them 3 AOs. I have more incoming but it will be a while.

I repeated my mistake from my game with Tom. Too much navy in SOPAC so I end up with a fuel shortage.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]India[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

Its a really, really basic plan. I´m just going to move in force down to Dacca and secure it. With Dacca in Allied hands the Japanese position in India becomes unattainable. He will have only 3 options.

1. Try to defend the rail south of Dacca. Not good terrain for defence.
2. Counter attack towards Calcutta in attempt to cut me off. He cannot do this as he doesn´t have enough troops to contain my attacking force, drive for Calcutta and defend his flanks while doing it.
3. Pack up and leave.

To be honest I think the only real option he has is number 3.

[Rio Bravo]

Joc-

Thank you for the update and the map of Southwestern India.

I am looking forward to seeing a few less red flags in India!

Best Regards,

-Terry

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Rio Bravo

Joc-

Thank you for the update and the map of Southwestern India.

I am looking forward to seeing a few less red flags in India!

Best Regards,

-Terry

I´ve pushed the "GO" button in India. Jeff just gave me a huge opening there. Update coming tomorrow. [:)]

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]12th-13th August -42[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

A few things of interest during the last two turns.

------------------------
NORPAC
------------------------
Quiet here. But some movement still going on. SIGINT reveals a few interesting things. More on that later...

------------------------
China
------------------------
Jeff finally pushes my roadblock south of Sian back. Took him some time to realize they are completely out of supply. They have been stuck with 0 supply for months now. [:D]

I´ll turtle up in Sian. Have to destroy the industry there when he grabs it as I´m prevented by HR to strat bomb in China.

------------------------
India
------------------------
Big news here as Jeff finally shocks into Ledo. Not the disaster I had hoped for though. Considering the troops he used he did very well.

Ground combat at Ledo (65,38)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 44285 troops, 440 guns, 141 vehicles, Assault Value = 1363

Defending force 16008 troops, 90 guns, 46 vehicles, Assault Value = 557

Japanese adjusted assault: 462

Allied adjusted defense: 499

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), fatigue(-), morale(-)
experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
2387 casualties reported
Squads: 71 destroyed, 375 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 53 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 61 disabled
Guns lost 24 (1 destroyed, 23 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1243 casualties reported
Squads: 29 destroyed, 97 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Assaulting units:
19th Division
18th/B Division
25th/A Division
19th Ind Engineer Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
1st RTA Division
18th/A Division
25th/C Division
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
5th Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd FA Rgt /2

Defending units:
75th Indian Brigade
16th Indian Brigade
13th Burma Rifles Battalion
1st Burma Battalion
4th Burma Battalion
1st Gloucestershire Battalion
63rd Indian Brigade
Mandalay BMP Battalion
5th Burma Battalion
BFF Brigade
6th Chinese Corps
Burma Corps

Interesting to note that the 18th and 25th ID arn´t combined and he used RTA troops. I can´t hold Ledo for more then a week or two but Jeff now has a lot of troops out of place. I decided to immediately leave Calcutta and let the 1st Marines catch up later. They can strat move straight to the front.

I already cut a good portion in the North off. Don´t know if Jeff noticed yet. We will head straight for Dacca where 13 units and 39k troops are. I´ll flank around it from the North and cut it off.

I havn´t counted the troops exactly but around 5000 AV will take part in the operation if you include the forces in the North. Time to throw the Japanese out of India. [:)]

Around 800 AV will remain at Calcutta. This is mostly low EXP/MRL Indian units that need to rest/train before they are combat ready. I have more Indian troops arriving as reinforcements the next week. They will anchor up the defense in the Madras and Calcutta regions.

A small CV/CVE TF was spotted in the Bay of Bengal? KB could possibly have made it here...interesting!

------------------------
SOPAC/OZ
------------------------
Not much happening. 170k of fuel started unloading at Auckland. Very welcome! Jeff is also showing me a SCTF on the Western coast of OZ. Just West of Carnarvon. Not sure what he is trying to do there?

------------------------
VPs.
------------------------
While they look really good right now there will be a big influx of Japanese VPs from China shortly. Don´t think it will provide the 10-12k VPs Jeff need for AV though.

[Canoerebel]

Good to have you back in the saddle, Jock. Keep posting!

How's the campaign against tobacco going? Kick its butt!

[Olorin]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Addiction - Psychological and Physical
Believe it or not, the physical withdrawls are the short term struggle you will have to face. They should be mostly gone by the weekend. However, the psychological part will drag on for years. [:(] The habit of having one after a meal, with an adult beverage, and the temptation when your life gets more stressful. Deal with stress is the one that I know clients of mine have the most difficulty in dealing with.

Signed,
your American mental health professional [;)]

I want to add my personal experience. I was a smoker for 8 years and managed to quit in Jan 1 2008 by using the cold turkey method. I did some reading on the internet that can basically be distilled to what Michael said above. My physical addiction went away in 3 days and after that I was free. These first 3 days were the real struggle. My psychological addiction was wayyyyyyy easier to handle, a walk in the park compared to the physical one. If you are a heavy smoker for a long time, physical addiction will be gone after two or three weeks at the most and after that you are basically free.

One caveat. If I smoke one or two ciggarettes now, my addiction will return to my 2000-2008 level (which was 12-15 cigs a day). If you smoke a cig whilst trying the cold turkey method, the clock for your physical addiction is reset to 0 and you are essentially perpetuating the withdrawal period to infinity. That's why you can't quit by gradually reducing the amount you smoke.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Good to have you back in the saddle, Jock. Keep posting!

How's the campaign against tobacco going? Kick its butt!

Thanks! Pace has been so slow lately I forget what I have been doing between turns. [:(]

Doing pretty well on the tobacco front actually. Feeling a little better each day but falling asleep is still difficult and I can a crushing headache from time to time. Still have a hard time sitting still in front of the computer though. Hence I havn´t been too active on the forum lately. I´ll get back in shape eventually! But I´m getting there... [:)]

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Olorin

I want to add my personal experience. I was a smoker for 8 years and managed to quit in Jan 1 2008 by using the cold turkey method. I did some reading on the internet that can basically be distilled to what Michael said above. My physical addiction went away in 3 days and after that I was free. These first 3 days were the real struggle. My psychological addiction was wayyyyyyy easier to handle, a walk in the park compared to the physical one. If you are a heavy smoker for a long time, physical addiction will be gone after two or three weeks at the most and after that you are basically free.

One caveat. If I smoke one or two ciggarettes now, my addiction will return to my 2000-2008 level (which was 12-15 cigs a day). If you smoke a cig whilst trying the cold turkey method, the clock for your physical addiction is reset to 0 and you are essentially perpetuating the withdrawal period to infinity. That's why you can't quit by gradually reducing the amount you smoke.

Congrats on quitting! And good to see you on the forum as well. [:)]

Headaches are killing me right now. Not sure if they are related to quitting or something else. But I do get splitting headaches if I skip coffee.

Could be just lack of sleep though. [:(]