Islands of Destiny: RA 5.0 Japanese Side

[John 3rd]

I lost my internet today and had to get it repaired by a very unlucky Century Link man. We have the beginnings of a blizzard going on. Just heard the forecast is now 6-12" which should be a lot of fun. Do LOVE snow! There is a reason I live in Colorado baby.

I was re-writing the earlier Post when I lost the internet so I shall post it now:

I have been pulling troops out of there for months now. All three of the bases listed above in your Post are OK. PM is very hard to supply but fine. The Lae AF Complex is solid in that I just delivered 30,000 supply. It does not have a ton of Infantry support but LOOKS (by recon) very impressive. Got a substantial presense at Hollandia and Madang.

There are several Naval HQ at Truk that MUST be pulled out. There are two convoys leaving Manila presently who are tasked with doing that. Just got the 1st Air Fleet HQ pulled from Rabaul and it is nearly at Mindanao. Concur about pulling troops out being an art form. I like to leave just enough to FORCE an Amphib Landing. Dan tried to take Tabitueau about two weeks ago and--get this--two IJN Inf Companys (AV 24 between them) completely destroyed an American Base Force. No bombardment of any sort and just an APA and PC hauling the troops. It was a nice, tasty haul of 1,300 US troops.

Dan's proclivity to let troops be destroyed has always amazed me. Your worry about 'abandoning' these troops nags at me every turn; however, I shall take the risk hoping for a quick result. 2nd TK just started unloading at Pare Pare. The TF has a lot of ships so I expect a 1 day unload.

[Anachro]

I was in Telluride, CO the last few days for xmas vacation and got out of Dodge just in time.

[Bif1961]

I also find his attitude about abandoning 100,000+ troops more Germanic then Allied, but so is the spirit of the game to fight a historic struggle your own way.

[John 3rd]

They are predicting that Aspen will get THREE FEET of snow with Steamboat Springs getting JUST 24". Very nice.

Concur Bif.

[ny59giants]

Meanwhile, they are already freaking out over "MAYBE" up to 1 inch of snow tonight here in NE Tennessee. [:D] The county schools will be closed tomorrow due it being more up on the mountain roads. It has given me a chuckle or two since I moved 'south' in '92.

Signed,
former upstate NYer and native Vermonter

[HansBolter]

It's 65 degrees at 9:00 am in St. Petersburg guys.....

We had a 'cold' night last night dipping below 60. [:)]

[ny59giants]

Flatlander....[;)]

[John 3rd]

More like...SOUTHERNER...we're hale and hardy folks up here in the big CO.

The storm fizzled. We ended up with about 6-7" with a few more today as it moves out. No big deal. My 7th and 5th Graders were very disappointed that school was not cancelled!

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Flatlander....[;)]

Isn't that the truth. My parents moved our family to St. Petersburg from Pennsylvania when I was 4.

I live in the house I grew up in and have not traveled much.

I visited John 3rds neck of the woods about 10 years ago and my drive in the rental car from the Denver airport to Fort Collins was spent with me gaping at the looming mountain range on my western horizon.

I spent the entire three day business trip with my mouth wide open gaping at those awe inspiring mountains!

[Lecivius]

ORIGINAL: Anachro

I was in Telluride, CO the last few days for xmas vacation and got out of Dodge just in time.

That's home, for me [;)] That condo at the bottom of the V on the ski slopes belongs to the family.

Snow is fizzling, but it's icy down south in Littleton John. Don't go out unless you need to [;)]

[John 3rd]

I am headed over to the store. It is mighty convenient to work just 150 yards from your house. Got up and used the snow blower on the driveway and sidewalk then hauled it over to the store. Work a lunch shift and you can guarantee a BUNCH of idiots will be out braving the 'terrible' roads and wanting lunch at Subway.

Hans: I could not imagine not having the mountains in plain view. Paula and I are looking at buying a spot of ground about 5-7 miles east of here that sits on a low ridge. Magnificent view of the mountains!

Looks like Dan and I have our internet issues handled. Just ran a turn--no major developments--without issue and sent it to him.

[AcePylut]

Haha, schools not cancelled cuz you only got 6-7 inches. I lived in Colorado (Vail) for a year, 6-7 inches was a sprinkling. I lived in Illinois and if there was a fresh 6-7” at 6AM, school was cancelled. Now I live in South Carolina, and if snow of any depth (like maybe 1/4 “ of snow) is forecast, school is closed.

Snow was always a reason to take out a rear-wheel drive car and do donuts in a parking lot.

[Nomad]

We didn't get any new snow last night, but it did drop down to -39F this morning.

[ny59giants]

Grew up in a small farming town about 20 miles south of Utica, NY. Part of the school district was a small town called Paris on Rte 12 which run north/south in middle of state. The snow drifts in one part required a permanent snow blower higher than a tracker trailer. Some winters the drift was around 30 feet high or worse. [X(]

[adarbrauner]

How's weather in Kurilis today?

[John 3rd]

The Kuriles has a very balmy 29* with 5/10 clouds. EXCELLENT compared to the Aleutians!

@Nomad: That is mighty cold! Brrr...

I don't think we take it very serious here until we go over 10" of snow. Wind is the key. We are just far enough out on the Front Range to be technically on the edge of the plains. Wind can be VERY bad!

This is Colorado though. We got this storm on Wed--Thurs with bitter cold temps but it will be 50* on Sunday and--get this--60* on Monday. NUTS!




Waiting on my turn from Dan. If I don't see his armada moving this coming turn then I think I will get a seriously free shot at Makassar. The 2nd TK unloaded about 80% of its load in one day and I have ordered it due south ASAP. The rest will be unloaded before it clears the hex. The 19th is halfway through its hex and will enter Makassar's hex in two turns.

I pulled BB Mutsu out of the shipyard at Singapore. Damage is SYS 0, FLOT 10, ENG 12 but I really want those 16" guns. Am now forming two Bombardment TFs: BB Musashi and Mutsu with 6 DD and BC Kongo, 2 CL, and 8 Escorts. He has SS EVERYWHERE trying to catch my shipping around Makassar, Pare Pare, and Watampone. This is providing a great opportunity (as long as I don't get hit) for my ASW IJA Bombers to THUMP some Allied subs! Have a full Sentai at Bima, another at Kolaka, and a third at Kendari. Each of these 27 plane units is flying 60% ASW with a skill of 60+. Should be fun to watch the hits occur. Have a large Daitai (48) of Jills flying out of Bima as well doing the same thing.

Will send the BC against Watampone one more time to keep that AF a mess.

The BB TF will nail Makassar, rearm at Soerabaja, then hit it again (with the BC TF) in conjunction with the assault. Currently have about 100-125 Bombers hitting the base/troops every day. Want disruption as high as possible get win the hex on the FIRST attack. Figure D-Day in about 5 turns--March 23, 1944.

[John 3rd]

March 18, 1944

Thought I would provide a screenshot of the Celebes action.

GROUND
1. We see the 19th ID and 2nd TK moving along the coast towards Makassar.
2. Cutting off retreat from Makassar is an Inf Reg and Brigade.
3. Two Infantry units move to cut the ground between Watampone and Palapo.

I'm making it look like we're moving everywhere when the real target is Makassar.

AIR
The bases are teaming with Fighters and Bombers. Main operation bases are Balikpapan, Kendari, and Soerabaja. Manado is flying sorties against Palapo as well. Pare Pare and Madjene are AF-1 with 40-50 Fighters flying CAP. There is roughly 700 aircraft flying here.

NAVAL
1. Have already detailed the Bombardment TFs.
2. Decoy KB is now 3 CV and 4 CVL with 353 planes. Tomorrow it sails slightly east (not far enough into those darned SS) and will launch its Jills on Ground Attack missions in the afternoon. This is a set-up to show him how much is presently here and give him a moment of 'pause.' Perhaps ALL of John's CV are here? Hmmm...maybe...maybe not...
3. After the attacks the DKB will scoot towards Cocos and hunt a possible convoy spotted by my SS on the edge of the map. Screenshot coming there.

[John 3rd]

Here is the edge of the board with notes.

[John 3rd]

Here is the disaster of Burma.

In yet another example of the computer choosing the exact OPPOSITE direction to retreat, an ID, Inf Corps HQ, and an Art unit are attacked north of Magwe and the way they SHOULD retire to (marked) is not at all where they do in fact retire to. LORDY. What a mess.

Had the 70th ID destroyed last turn and have already bought it out to rebuild.

Two ID remain up there and the chances of getting them out are about 20%.

Lashio fell this turn.

The hex in orange next to Prome is a race currently. Three Artillery units are there and my one intact, full strength ID is moving as fast as possible from Prome to get into the hex before the Allies shock attack acrost the Irrawaddy. Give that about a 1 in 3 chance of working.

As mentioned earlier I continue to freely get the chance to unload in Rangoon's spacious Port. The TF shown there just unloaded, as mentioned earlier, a full strength Brigade and two TK Regiments.

[John 3rd]

Don't know where Dan is. Usually have a turn whenever I want but no luck so far. Am done with Postings for a while.