The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Bullwinkle58]

1945 requires a change in mindset. A 40 VP CA is a who-cares when you're reaping five-figures a month in strat. Ditto him cruising about plinking transports. It just doesn't matter.

[Canoerebel]

It might matter, a bit. As you noted a week or two ago, the cumulative affect of losing ships (or whatever) does impact the bottom line. John's going to score some points here and there, but I don't need to give him any more assists.

The thing about the little Judy raid that somehow penetrated Death Star to score a hit on Pensacola....what happens when 1,000 kamikazes, bombers and escorts show up? Can DS CAP handle the threat? I think so, but I don't know for sure. John will never have a better chance to strike than tomorrow, so perhaps we'll find out.

Am I making a mistake by invading Korea? I suppose its debatable, like everything. The thing is, I KNOW I can use an airfield to good effect in achieving the final victory. And I THINK Death Star is up to the task (part of the equation - if John loses 750 aircraft in return for 375 points of Allied shipping, it works out fine for auto-vic purposes). I do wish I had enough experience to better gauge whether I'm taking the wrong chance here. That's part of playing deeply and learning new things.

[BBfanboy]

Your map shows DS and herd five hexes from Gunzan. Assuming max speed progress of six hexes per turn, the Amphibs will only have the last unload phase of the day to unload troops. The bridgehead will be small and vulnerable. He can set a shock attack at the beginning of the turn following.

I am uncertain whether it would be better to wait until the following turn to start unloading or whether getting a few ashore next turn will be better. Your thoughts?

[Canoerebel]

I'll have to double check, but nearly all of my amphibs are APA and AKA that will make good speed. There are LSTs carrying tanks that will make six hexes.

But there's no worry about a shock attack. That couldn't occur until the evening of Day 2, after which the Allies will have had another full day to unload.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

2/1/45

Enemy Counterespionage or Vomitos de Informacion: John sent this email with the new turn: Are you seriously looking at making another Amphib Landing in China/Manchuria/Korea?  Wow.  Roll the dice Sir.  I’ve got anywhere from 600—3,100 AV at the coast ports.  This could be interesting to watch.

John is an excitable young man, so sometimes he blurts the first thing that comes to his mind. Sometimes the comments strike me as genuine (as when he said Ningpo "wasn't important"). Sometimes the comments strike me as the false bravado of a worried player (as when he threatened utter mayhem if Death Star dared to steam pass Formosa, many months ago, and it proceeded to do so with impunity).

I think this is the false bravado of a worried player. Apparently he doesn't realize I've had detection on many of his bases for a long time. I know there are many holes in his defenses. My major concern is that he has a mobile (strat mode) reserve force at a central location, waiting to train into the invasion beach. He failed to do that before (Formosa) much to the chagrin of some of his experienced readers (who commented in my AAR). They've probably tutored him well since then, so I'm expecting something of the sort. Which is why I hope: (1) my para-assaults will knock those units out of strat mode (assuming he is guessing the right beach) and (2) the overwhelming weight of USN bombardment TFs against clear terrain will prove effective.

This is not cakewalk. It could prove very nettlesome and turn ugly. But I'm going to work it, as getting an advanced airfield in Korea would be a major step in the right direction. If John does outguess me, I'll pick up my troops and proceed with Plan B. I hope Plan B won't be necessary.

I was wondering if you had considered Moppo. It's not a good choice if one is looking to exploit into and conquer Korea being disconnected from both rail and road nets, but is ideal if you only want a fighter base (good size potential) in range of the HI and being off the travel networks makes it very difficult to counterattack with a mobile reserve.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

It might matter, a bit. As you noted a week or two ago, the cumulative affect of losing ships (or whatever) does impact the bottom line. John's going to score some points here and there, but I don't need to give him any more assists.

The thing about the little Judy raid that somehow penetrated Death Star to score a hit on Pensacola....what happens when 1,000 kamikazes, bombers and escorts show up? Can DS CAP handle the threat? I think so, but I don't know for sure. John will never have a better chance to strike than tomorrow, so perhaps we'll find out.

Am I making a mistake by invading Korea? I suppose its debatable, like everything. The thing is, I KNOW I can use an airfield to good effect in achieving the final victory. And I THINK Death Star is up to the task (part of the equation - if John loses 750 aircraft in return for 375 points of Allied shipping, it works out fine for auto-vic purposes). I do wish I had enough experience to better gauge whether I'm taking the wrong chance here. That's part of playing deeply and learning new things.

I don't think Korea is a mistake. It directly supports the strat bombing effort in the same ways an Hokkaido plunge does.

At this point my comments here should be construed as "have a beer" comments., or "cup of coffee" if you like. Not advisory; just observational. You're doing fine, and better than fine, and I guess that's the heart of my comment above. You are volunteering for carpal tunnel when all you need to really do is burn him down. You can table the land war, table the southern map, table Indo-China and Malaysia, and just bomb and be done.

You don't because the amateur shrink in me senses anticipatory nostalgia. This is soon over, and you and John move on. Maybe forever in game terms, maybe for just years. So the more you do every turn, the more complexity you add, the longer the goodbye lasts. Sweet. [:'(]

I also wish he had tried a mass kami effort. I REALLY want to see what can be done in those terms with current patches. It's been years since I faced them. There would be carnage, yes, and that was his last, best chance to play a real VP game and stave off defeat past August and the Decisive marker. But he doesn't seem to want to play. I think it would have been good for you too, as obvert will sure as all hell hit you with mass kamis.

I'm going to follow your game with obvert to see if you got bad habits from this one. John lets you get away with a lot of cheese (in a baseball sense of the word, to confuse the Brits here [:)]) that obvert will punish. The picture of your checkerboard subs in shallow water, week after week, month after month, just amazes me for one example.

In RL the Allies didn't stop fighting in China once the strat bombing began. So I get it. But if your wrists start barking . . .

[Canoerebel]

You're exactly right in so many things, Bullwinkle, right down to my wrists hurting. It's taking me 2 to 5 hours every turn now. And the maps for the AAR take an additional 30 to 45 minutes. But I enjoy it.

And part of the reason for this invasion is because I need to see what kamikazes are capable of doing. I seriously considered aborting to the second target - John has no airfields to speak of up there; but I need to see how maximum power is handled on both ends of the equation.

The one place I'd quibble with you is about the level of complexity needed - or not? - to finish the game. I'm only scoring about 3k to 5k strategic points per month (not "five digits"). At this rate, victory would be five to eight months away. But I think if I work everything hard, victory may be three months away. More problematic is that I may face issues with my bomber pools. I'm counting on Strategic Bombing...but taking precautions in case it proves to be an issue.

In addition to strategic bombing, I'm scoring a lot of points by wiping out enemy units and by taking and building good bases. Those are efficient ways to rack up points.

I think destroying enemy ships is also becoming pretty efficient. I've pulled the right levers a good bit lately, because John has been rather desperate to shove convoys in tight places. That should continue as the Allies consolidate gains.

So, yes, I'm obsessing over the complexity of the game...learning, learning, learning, enjoying, enjoying, enjoying....and cognizant that these points may become vital before it's all said and done.

[witpqs]

CR, I don't know what you know, only what I've read in your AAR. I think Korea is a good decision. Especially getting in now when you know at least a major portion of his carriers are elsewhere. Heck, even the ones you worry about being close might not be quite close enough to influence the next two days.

[Canoerebel]

The turn has been sent to John. The invasion is supposed to look like this:

1. Amphibious assault divided into fast and slow TFs that will proceed to the beaches, accompanied by two combat TFs, minesweepers, ASW.
2. Death Star takes position one hex to the NW with all fighters set to range two or three. I'm expecting bleed-over CAP to handle the invasion beach.
3. B-24Js from Ningpo to target ground troops at Gunzan.
4. Transports to drop paratroops at three rail junctions (this will happen late in the day). The paratroops may evaporate but there's a chance they'll throw enemy units out of Strat mode, hindering Just in Time reinforcements.
5. I'll be marginally surprised if John triggers an all-out naval attack or aerial assault tomorrow. I think he's just a little unsure yet what's happening and where....and I think this caught him by enough surprise that he'll have to scramble to put everything together. I expect mostly small naval craft, a modest number of strike aircraft, and probably railed-in reinforcements.
6. No bombardments tomorrow. I'm saving the big boys for the next day, when John's reinforcements will be in the open terrain.

I think this invasion caught John by surprise and leaning towards China. He has some divisions way up there and recon suggests that the Gunzan garrison is down considerably from what it was several weeks ago. But I may be wrong. If John's email message this a.m. was genuine, I am wrong. But I think he was blowin' in the wind.

[MakeeLearn]

Kido Butai OR

Nana-san-ichi Butai!!!

RHS mod has Unit 731[:'(] ?



Mukden/Changchun a possible large concentration of troops.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

You're exactly right in so many things, Bullwinkle, right down to my wrists hurting. It's taking me 2 to 5 hours every turn now. And the maps for the AAR take an additional 30 to 45 minutes. But I enjoy it.

And part of the reason for this invasion is because I need to see what kamikazes are capable of doing. I seriously considered aborting to the second target - John has no airfields to speak of up there; but I need to see how maximum power is handled on both ends of the equation.

The one place I'd quibble with you is about the level of complexity needed - or not? - to finish the game. I'm only scoring about 3k to 5k strategic points per month (not "five digits"). At this rate, victory would be five to eight months away. But I think if I work everything hard, victory may be three months away. More problematic is that I may face issues with my bomber pools. I'm counting on Strategic Bombing...but taking precautions in case it proves to be an issue.

In addition to strategic bombing, I'm scoring a lot of points by wiping out enemy units and by taking and building good bases. Those are efficient ways to rack up points.

I think destroying enemy ships is also becoming pretty efficient. I've pulled the right levers a good bit lately, because John has been rather desperate to shove convoys in tight places. That should continue as the Allies consolidate gains.

So, yes, I'm obsessing over the complexity of the game...learning, learning, learning, enjoying, enjoying, enjoying....and cognizant that these points may become vital before it's all said and done.

My bad, as I conflated strat bombing with the land/sea VPs to get to the five figs. I think maybe last month was 9500 or so, from memory?

Once you get Korea the eastern HI opens up--Tokyo, Yoka, the huge aircraft cities--and your non-B-29 4Es really come into play. Strat VPs in my experience skyrocket then. When I last did it against the AI I was operating from Hokkaido, so the sequence was reversed from yours. But you can get some huge raids going on that density. If you're still playing after VE Day and get the ETO B-17s, it's riches like you can't believe.

[Canoerebel]

2/3/45

Informacion de Vomitos: "This should prove interesting.  I was thinking you’d land on the China side or deep into the Yellow Sea.  OK.  For years, 8,831 AV have sat idle.  Orders go out…"

[modrow]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

2/3/45

Informacion de Vomitos: "This should prove interesting.  I was thinking you’d land on the China side or deep into the Yellow Sea.  OK.  For years, 8,831 AV have sat idle.  Orders go out…"

Maybe you will get the Soviet activation before this war is over after all.

[Canoerebel]

2/2/45

Funnel Cakes: D-Day goes just as expected. There was minimal opposition (a few strike aircraft), the landings come ashore in great shape (Amphib HQ + 100% prep for 5th Div. means no disablements, etc.). Pre-invasion bombarding by the small gunships [LCI(G)] etc do their job. Heavy bombing by Liberators during the day disables perhaps 30-45 squads. Near the end of the day, the three paratroop units land...two evaporating and one taking an inland base.

The Japanese auto-counterattack does a fair bit of damage to the Japanese (see image). And the combat movie shows the enemy garrison weakens considerably - the mixed brigade at 96 AV and the tank regiment at 25.

Tomorrow will probably be messier, but I think John was caught so flat-footed that he's having to scramble to put things together. I do think he'll come eventually. He'll bring everything he has within range. By air this might only take a day or three. By sea, he has carriers in the Carolines that he might recall.

I suspect, but I'm not sure, that he has no troops prepared to rail in tomorrow. If that's true, Gunzan will fall. If that happens, nothing he tries to do will undo the Allies having an airfield on Japan's doorstep.

All that puffing from John yesterday?

[traskott]

Vomitos: puke.....(Spanish). Reading this AAR is now somethng.... interesting

[:-]

[:'(]

[Canoerebel]

2/2/45

Fancy Pants: The key bases of Hong Kong (south) and Suchow (northern coastal plain) should fall within the next few days. The former brings victory points and frees up and army to go elsewhere. The latter gives me a forward airfield form which operations deep into northern China can be covered.

One of the weirder aspects of the late game is that I've had committed in China two American divisions still equipped with 1941 squads. This is partly due to ignorance - at the time these two divisions left Pearl Harbor long ago, I wasn't aware enough of things to check stuff like that. (It's one of the critical details that was missing from my game.) By the time the units reached China, there wasn't a good base, supply, or time to upgrade. I mostly devoted these two divisions to mop-up or garrison duty. But 98th Div. helped with the final stages at Kukong. Today it upgraded to 1944 squads.

The other division is still fighting with 1941 squads. I won't tell you where it is until it upgrades...which I hope will be in just two or three days.

[Canoerebel]

2/2/45

KB East: Deep inside SoPac.

[Zecke]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

2/2/45

KB East: Deep inside SoPac.

Wach out¡ movin the KB; sometimes are deep water; so; yes; the map has different speeds.

[witpqs]

All that puffing from John yesterday?

You're doomed! John has you right where he wants you.

[:'(]

[Flicker]

Great use of paratroopers in Korea. L'audace!