The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Lowpe]

What is the longest range you can drop paratroopers? And are the paratroopers sitting off Formosa on an island?

Your comment points out the value of having a KB...

[Lowpe]

Swatow to Foochow really are the key bases....I think one should have been built to level 9 and the others maxed normal. From there they can throw a ton of land based air at any invasion of Formosa.

All of Formosa's runways are subject to crippling shore bombardments, almost immune to reprisals since the Allies have Orchid Island.

But, I go back to Swatow to Foochow. Nice terrain, puts all of China back in play. I get absolutely terrified when Allied invasion forces head for that area...

Pescardores is small runway, but there is a small shipyard there too, which is really quite useful...

Given the track of the deathstar...I would be pushing every panic button I had. Right now the target is unclear...and that further plays into the Allied hands.

With China contested, I bet Swatow to Foochow are weakly held.

With the Kb and 1200 planes, Japan probably could assemble another 1500 on the Swatow to Foochow line and really threaten an invasion....but, that is not to be.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

What is the longest range you can drop paratroopers? And are the paratroopers sitting off Formosa on an island?

Your comment points out the value of having a KB...

The really big flying boats the Americans start getting in mid '43 (forget the name) have a normal range of 17 hexes.

[Will_L]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

the grave is made of limestone it is almost unreadable due to acid rain.

A headstone rubbing would probably show the engraving pretty well.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

What is the longest range you can drop paratroopers? And are the paratroopers sitting off Formosa on an island?

Your comment points out the value of having a KB...

The really big flying boats the Americans start getting in mid '43 (forget the name) have a normal range of 17 hexes.

Coronado

[Flicker]

CR - good progress. I know I've been suggesting Shanghai, but you seem to be in position for a Pearl River campaign (not the one in Mississippi). Shanghai may be a 'bridge too far', whereas Hong Kong, Canton, and up the river may allow you to hook up with your Chinese and Bangkok-going-east friends plus give you some great ports and repair shipyards (and VPs!).

[Canoerebel]

7/25/44

Peep Show: SigInt whispered truthfully for more than a year, and a solid hunch appears to be on target.

[Canoerebel]

7/25/44

Peep Show Area of Operations: See map for details.

[paullus99]

Oh, I am loving the misdirection. This is playing out very much like Sherman's march from Savannah through the Carolinas. Threatening multiple targets, forcing John to choose where to defend, then hitting the under-defended areas.

I'm really liking this move. I really, really like it.

[Lowpe]

Sweet...you will learn why I quake with fear when Allied invasion fleets near the Chinese Coast.

Not doing better in China is really going to hurt Japan.

Not having the KB here, for the pivotal first landings, is really going to hurt Japan.

Plus, as of now, Japan has no clue as to what your are invading. [&:] Which is pure speculation on my part...Formosa and Pescadores most likely targets.

I have advice, but I cannot give it.[;)]

[Lokasenna]

My concern with you going for Foochow (and somewhat Tsinkiang) is that your TFs may run into MTBs, DDs, and the like...and run straight into the coastal guns at Pescadores (due to there almost certainly being mines there). I'd have preferred Amoy or even Swatow for this reason.

[Canoerebel]

Who said I was sailing by Pescadores? I might, but I might go the other way around.

That was one reason for the previous Death Star visit to Formosa a few weeks back: to see how John configured his defenses; to deal with mines and MTBs; to learn and adjust.

If Foochow is the first target, and it probably is, I'll proceed directly there. That'll take me close to Pescadores, but I'll post DEs and DDs in the passage to try to thwart the MTB strategy. If Ningpo ends up being the first target, I'll likely go the other way around.

I'll have to make the decision this turn, but John is out of town until Sunday night, so I have the time to do it.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Who said I was sailing by Pescadores? I might, but I might go the other way around.

That was one reason for the previous Death Star visit to Formosa a few weeks back: to see how John configured his defenses; to deal with mines and MTBs; to learn and adjust.

If Foochow is the first target, and it probably is, I'll proceed directly there. That'll take me close to Pescadores, but I'll post DEs and DDs in the passage to try to thwart the MTB strategy. If Ningpo ends up being the first target, I'll likely go the other way around.

I'll have to make the decision this turn, but John is out of town until Sunday night, so I have the time to do it.

Unless you set the home port to somewhere east of Foochow, presumably your homeport is Manila... your ships may run right into Pescadores if they get contacted just twice in particular hexes. There's no guarantee that the DE/DD TFs will stop that from happening, but it does help. Just not a risk I would take given the game date.

As a fictional sports broadcaster once said: "That's a bold move, Cotton."

[ny59giants]

How many armor/tank LCUs are you bringing to break out with?

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna


Unless you set the home port to somewhere east of Foochow, presumably your homeport is Manila... your ships may run right into Pescadores if they get contacted just twice in particular hexes. There's no guarantee that the DE/DD TFs will stop that from happening, but it does help. Just not a risk I would take given the game date.

As a fictional sports broadcaster once said: "That's a bold move, Cotton."

You know more about these things than I do. In making my assessments of what's possible and what's likely, I may be too ignorant of the nature and extent of the various threats. I don't have a lot of experience in these waters or with the late date of the game.

That said, I feel pretty confident that Task Force Hercules (I just made that up) will make it in decent shape. I'm worried mainly about kamikazes, but I think my efforts to deal with the threat of mines and combat ships are sufficient.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

How many armor/tank LCUs are you bringing to break out with?

I have five or six regiments of tanks.

If and when a base is secured, armor and fresh infantry divisions will begin to spread out...hopefully giving John more to worry about.

But the real plan is something much different....

[paullus99]

Are you planning to launch a Chinese-led offensive to tie down his forces?

[Canoerebel]

Judging by John's email comments when he sent the turn, he seems to think my "sudden" interest in coastal China is a last-minute change of heart. He may believe that I'm belatedly reacting to his moves to reinforce Formosa and vicinity.

If that's the case, he's less likely to factor in the prep factor. And I'm trying to figure out if there are other ways to make use of his misperceptions, if such there are.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: paullus99
Are you planning to launch a Chinese-led offensive to tie down his forces?

The Chinese are crowding the front lines from the Changsha sector to the Vietnam border. John's troops have heavy forts, so I have zero expectations of achieving a breakthrough. Less than zero, really.

But I'm pressing forward to make him think twice about weakening that line.

And there's all those Allied troops in Thailand beginning to push east and northeast from the Bangkok sector. (Do you think there was any coincidence in how the Burma campaign was designed to eventually compliment Peep Show?)

The main thing is that there's probably a gaping vacuum in the area between John's Chinese MLR and his coastal garrisons. It'll take him time address those problems, mainly due to the space involved. But he'll do it before the Allied "hordes" can move in strength deep into China.

...but there is no such plan.

[paullus99]

I mentioned it before, but you really are channeling Sherman right now.

At this point, it appears that John has no significant naval forces between the Philippines and the HI.