The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Dirtnap86]

What all does John still have left as a credible surface fleet though? His cruiser forces I think were pretty chewed up as are his lighter elements iirc.

I know his carrier arm is still pretty strong, despite the losses he took thanks to the IJN friendliness of the mod. He can always supplement them with LBAS too.

[Canoerebel]

His navy has suffered and is stretched pretty thin, but it still packs a punch. He has half his BBs and CAs, is woefully short on CLs, and maybe half or more his destroyers. He'll have to pick and choose times and locations to fight more than he'd like. That will keep him in check, because he's probably having a tough time giving KB enough escorts.

[BBfanboy]

Given the revelation of your major thrust for DS I, I am guessing that one of the other DSs is waiting for a clear shot at Marcus again, while another will head for Daito Shoto when the time is right. That would make the Philippine Sea pretty much yours. If he puts strong air into the Bonins (Iwo Jima + 2) your DS could sweep them off pretty fast.

[JohnDillworth]

I am not a details guy

[X(][X(][X(][X(][X(][X(]

[Canoerebel]

It doesn't make sense, does it? But it's true! I notice things. I see things. But I don't do a good job with details. I don't spreadsheet. Clicking three-thousand times to create TFs, issue orders, load troops, set to this home base, set to follow that TF, aircraft to fly at this range, altitude, CAP percentage, etc. etc. etc. has been enervating in the extreme. I have been detailed to death.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

I am not a details guy

[X(][X(][X(][X(][X(][X(]

AE is Dan's inner nerd fighting to express itself! [:D]

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

It doesn't make sense, does it? But it's true! I notice things. I see things. But I don't do a good job with details. I don't spreadsheet. Clicking three-thousand times to create TFs, issue orders, load troops, set to this home base, set to follow that TF, aircraft to fly at this range, altitude, CAP percentage, etc. etc. etc. has been enervating in the extreme. I have been detailed to death.

It is the call of the AFB when the JFB whines about Turn 1. The Allied late game is simply massive in scope.

Wait until after VE Day . . .

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

It doesn't make sense, does it? But it's true! I notice things. I see things. But I don't do a good job with details. I don't spreadsheet. Clicking three-thousand times to create TFs, issue orders, load troops, set to this home base, set to follow that TF, aircraft to fly at this range, altitude, CAP percentage, etc. etc. etc. has been enervating in the extreme. I have been detailed to death.

You are a perfectionist :] The sheer amount of clicks required ensures that at least a small minority will be wrong. Hopefully insignificant errors.

[bradfordkay]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Turkey trots to water.

It's a scary time to invoke that quote, considering how close I am to Leyte Gulf and the San Bernardino Strait.

John is probably beside himself with all the historical comparisons. That, alone, might prod him to send in CL/DD raiding forces through the multitude of channels.

What's keeping him in check - if he is still in check - is the lickings the Kaigun has taken in this game. Now the two torpedoes eaten by Chikuma a week ago loom larger.

Man, though, this turn makes me nervous. I'm pretty sure something loud is about to sound.

How close??!! My friend, your naval forces are right there in that screen shot. The only difference is that you are landing on Samar and Luzon instead of the island of Leyte.

[Canoerebel]

No turn from John. The suspense is agonizing. He's been online on and off all afternoon and evening. But he hasn't sent any word about whether or when he's sending a turn or why he isn't. Nor is he posting in his AAR, which is odd.

If there had been a big battle in his favor, he'd be posting hot and heavy. If nothing had happened, he'd probably have sent the turn back by now. He's either agonizing over orders for the following turn or there's been developments that have created a disturbance in the Force.

But sitting here all evening waiting for a turn...Augh!

[Canoerebel]

"..RR the world wonders."

[Canoerebel]

No turn from John, no word from John.

Blackouts are fairly common when real life intervenes, but this has morphed into something way beyond that. He was online and in the forum a lot yesterday afternoon and evening. He even sent an email mid-afternoon my time about his power outage and that it would be rectified shortly. Then he went completely dark.

Here's how I read this. I don't think he scored a big naval or carrier victory. If he had, "Banzai!" would have been heard around the world. I also don't think he suffered a big defeat. When he does, he usually jumps back into things quickly and acknowledges what happened. So I don't think a big battle took place either way.

What is more likely is that Fun House has indeed achieved surprise, with John not properly prepared for a ground campaign here. He has a growing awareness of the seriousness of the situation. He knows he's going to have to fight and engage in a lot more retrieval missions (he can't afford 20k troops at Milne Bay when the Allies have an army on Luzon.) He probably finds the prospect of another "shuffling around" era to be pretty distasteful.

So he's considering all his options: attack? when? where? with what? troops where? what ships to go retrieve them? what orders to issue and clicks to make.

That's my analysis based on what I know and guess.

[Canoerebel]

Fun House is off to a promising start, but it's just the dawn of this operation. This has the potential to become a Celebes on steroids or it can succeed magnificently. I think, though, that John will fight hard.

With no turn in the mail box, I spent time this morning thinking about how we got here, centered on this thought: less than eight months ago, the Allies had a beleaguered army holding Sabang, Sumatra. Now they're landing in the Philippines in strength. That's quite a change.

One other thing: Celebes. It is the vortex that drew 19th Div. and 2nd Tank Div. There will be a US carrier named Celebes to eventually join USS Sumatra, which is currently on map at Nirvana.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Fun House is off to a promising start, but it's just the dawn of this operation. This has the potential to become a Celebes on steroids or it can succeed magnificently. I think, though, that John will fight hard.

With no turn in the mail box, I spent time this morning thinking about how we got here, centered on this thought: less than eight months ago, the Allies had a beleaguered army holding Sabang, Sumatra. Now they're landing in the Philippines in strength. That's quite a change.

One other thing: Celebes. It is the vortex that drew 19th Div. and 2nd Tank Div. There will be a US carrier named Celebes to eventually join USS Sumatra, which is currently on map at Nirvana.

Yep, sometimes after a big defeat or win. Of just the beginning of a big enemy operation, I might take a day or two off just to think.

[Canoerebel]

Still no turn, no word, from John. He was in the forum again this a.m. for quite awhile. It's driving me nuts.

I don't know what's going on, but I do know this: I had better be very careful in issuing orders and clicking next turn. It's time to circle the wagons and receive an attack (when I get the turn, it might show me otherwise, but I think John's spending all this time deciding what to do in attacking sooner rather than later).

[Canoerebel]

4/3/44

The turn arrived. The Allies are ashore in good shape in many places, with little or no opposition. The Japanese navy and air forces didn't sortie. There were a lot of significant, favorable developments. I'm going to post details and graphics throughout the afternoon. I'm going to lunch first, but here is a quick look at things besides Fun House followed by two "teaser" Fun House graphics.

CenPac: Herd IV, covered by Death Star IV, engage in the amphibious invasion of Taongi, a dot hex east north of Wotje and southeast of Wake. A US Army RCT overwhelms a Japanese naval landing force and takes the base. This dot hex gave John a naval search plane base too close to my LOC for comfort. More importantly, this may give John some reason to look over his shoulder to wonder what else might be stirring far from the Philippines. This was the fourth time I had sent this RCT forward to invade in the past four months. The other three times I pulled it back due to the sudden appearance of major elements of the Japanese navy.

Celebes: Japanese units arrive at Palapo - it's a mixed brigade and a Hindu unit (I think), not 2nd Tank Div. as I had expected. John has enough to take the base tomorrow, but there will be little left of the garrison. There is news about John's other units, as a graphic I'll post in a few minutes will show.

Burma: It looks like John's is creating a good MLR in and near Prome and Toungoo. My bombers aren't nearly as effective against his units in the jungle, so I think he can make a good stand. I'd like to push him back and take Rangoon, so I'll be giving this more thought. But the original purpose of the Burma offensive was to hold John's attention forward - meaning the five divisions he had there - as long as possible. Three of those divisions are now destroyed or nearly destroyed, another is roughed up badly, and the fifth is on the MLR in the jungle. In that sense, Burma already succeeded in it's original objective. The second objective was to open up the line of communications (and troop movement) to China. That too has succeeded. The third was to draw his fighters here so that I don't face as many in Fun House. In that, I haven't succeeded. John's fighting a major battle with no air force.

[Canoerebel]

SigInt tidbits.

[Canoerebel]

6th Division is ashore in great shape at Legaspi. Mouseover shows enemy defenses very weak, though reinforcements could arrive before tomorrow's deliberate attack. But with the 100% prepped bonus going for it, I'm optimistic that 6th Division will succeed.

This is key because the armada includes a massive host of units in strat mode. Once Legaspi falls, unloading will commence immediately. Some of these units are assault units for additional bases; many are support units to be distributed here and there.

[Canoerebel]

One more tidbit before lunch. This is the kind of game-mechanic glitch that many can benefit from.

6th and 9th Australian divisions handled the invasions of Catbalogan and Guiuan. Both are excellent units with high prep. Both are ashore in good shape, and both bases are vacant.

But one of the units shows 100% prep for Adak Island and 100% prep for Tarawa. How is that possible? In putting together the invasions, I retrieved tiny fragments of units that had been scattered about during Carnival, Roller Coaster, etc. in the summer of '43. The parent units, which were nearly entire, were, as I said, highly prepped. But the little cadres somehow asserted their prep and wiped out the much larger parent units. I have never seen this before, mainly because I've never been so careful to move fragments forward and reunited with the parent units.

BEWARE!

[MakeeLearn]

But one of the units shows 100% prep for Adak Island and 100% prep for Tarawa. How is that possible?

A Butter Bar logistics officer in Headquarters-Headquarters Company.