The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Canoerebel]

It has indeed been fun and exhuasting. Thank goodness for that 2.25 year hiatus from game play!

Even as John is excited about the situation in Sumatra and Burma, bear in mind that this and future successes for him are intentinoally pre-packaged for a reason. I want to lead him down paths that are most helpful to me. I'd like him to focus on the Sumatran west coast road for a month or two since that represents his slowest route to victory. So the defenses are configured to excite him, slow him just a bit early on, draw him deeper, and then halt him for awhile. If that keeps him from getting antsy and invading in coup-de-main fashion, it's worked. And even as he advances banzaiing all the while, he's been marching to the beat of an Allied drummer.

Even without opposition it would take him three weeks to march to Sabang. With opposition the campaign should take much longer. The one thing I don't want to see is an invasion of Sabang short or medium term. I need him jazzed for the next month or so about his prospects on the west road. If that ultimately leads to victory in 60 days or 90 days, Sumatra will by then have served it's purpose.

[Canoerebel]

A week ago, one or two of you were interested in reading a story I'd written about the Battle of Kettle Creek. I finished late last week and used this in a presentation to our local Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter. I'll adapt from this as a story for the magazine I edit. This story is not academic-level history intended for military historians. It's a general-interest story meant to entertain a broad audience interested in Georgia history.

Well, I had to edit because the TXT version erased all paragraph breaks etc. I don't know of a good way to present a text document, but I'll try creating a JPEG for each page and then embedding it. It probably won't be pretty.

[Canoerebel]

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[KenchiSulla]

Nice one!

[poodlebrain]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

My only concern to your plan, and I have said it before, is his satellite airfields. If he gets them to level 4 then LBA can continue the blockade, perhaps with a small carrier contingent as support (remember, he gets more carriers in this mod than normal). He can run his gunships for bombardments. This will free up his KB to react to any moves on Java.

I'm not being critical, just voicing my concerns on your plans. In any event, it's gut check time & see where we land

You are overlooking the fact that the Allied navies will have ports to operate from in support of their invasion to counter the IJN. That is the only reason why there is still a battle for Sumatra. The Allies do not have any secure ports from which to support/reinforce their invasion.

[Lowpe]

Now I am going to have to check out Roberts. Well done![&o]

[BBfanboy]

You have a knack for capturing the drama of a battle in a few concise paragraphs and also conveying understanding of the import of what went on.
Well done! [&o]

I have no idea what the DAR meetings usually deal with - did you get any feedback from them?

[Panther Bait]

CR, in what is unfortunately a dying art, that was very well written, thoroughly enjoyable.

Mike

[Lecivius]

ORIGINAL: poodlebrain

You are overlooking the fact that the Allied navies will have ports to operate from in support of their invasion to counter the IJN. That is the only reason why there is still a battle for Sumatra. The Allies do not have any secure ports from which to support/reinforce their invasion.

Not at all.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
...
I have no idea what the DAR meetings usually deal with - did you get any feedback from them?

These are "home folks" who know me well, as I speak and teach frequently around here. I think they liked it. Heck, my wife was there and even she seemed to enjoy it.

[Canoerebel]

I don't intend to stick my naked arm into a hornet's nest. With SigInt and careful attention to the ebb and flow of the game, plus my familiarity with John, I think I can work things out to create a good feint and to strike somewhere important enough to force him to counterattack over the long term. It might be Java or New Guinea, or it might be northern Oz (Broome, Derby, Exmouth) or it might be the Gilberts (yet again). It'll have to be somewhere within "shooting range" of Oz, since I've spent two month concentrating ships and troops there. There are lots of options and the final decisions might not be made for another six weeks or so.

[Capt. Harlock]

3. He's taken it on the chin in the air war (losing 3k more aircraft than the Allies to date).

Is that still true after the massive bombardments of Sabang? I was under the impression that the aircraft losses there are substantial, and your remaining pools seem to be pretty small.

[Canoerebel]

Before the bombardments began, the Allies had a 3k advantage in aircraft losses (at that time it was 6k to 9k). Today the difference is exactly the same, 7.4k to 10.4k, though obviously the ratio has lowered. The Allies suffered some important losses that will take awhile to recover from, especially F4Fs and P40Ks.

[CaptBeefheart]

That's a great story. Thanks a lot for sharing it with us.

Cheers,
CC

[Canoerebel]

3/26/43

Battle of Sumatra:The enemy will be moving up the coast road at four days per hex plus one day to dislodge the picket RCT. By my reckoning, 10th Div. will reach the roadblock hex (with tank unit and 1st Marine Div.) in 9 days. The marines are currently at 268 AV and recovering steadily from a pounding it took near Medan two months back. It'll be defending a jungle rough hex, so I'm hoping it can hold against four divisions, though that might be asking too much.

Supply at Sabang is 210k; probably enough to hold out about two more months. So there will come a time when the Allies will have to bring in supply to sustain the lodgement, but I'll cross that bridge when the time comes. A lot could happen over two months.

A long time back, I suggested that the key would be whether the Allies still held Sabang in usable condition on April 1, when Hellcats come online. The Allies will hold Sabang, it will have gracious plenty supply and defenders, but the airfield is in bad shape and consistently pulverized. For a time it's sufficient just to tie down the KB and Japanese BBs. But once the Hellcats are available, I'll look for opportunities to change the paradigm. I have some ideas, but there are no guarantees conditions will be favorable. Again, though, two months is a lot of time for things to change, for opportunities to present, and for Friction to visit. It's been awhile since Friction has smiled.

SoPac: An IJN sub sank the xAKL at Vaitupu and then an AVP coming to handle PBYs.

[JohnDillworth]

Thanks for the history lesson Dan. Had the pleasure of visiting Charleston/Savannah late last year so I saw that part of the country foe the first time. now I have a bit of context.