The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[FlyByKnight]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

3/3/45

Judging by his body language, John really hard a hard time coming back to the game after the Battle of Gunzan.

South China Sea: Opposing carrier forces are 17 hexes apart, but fuel limits my options.

Whatever happened to Lexington?

[Canoerebel]

See post 13260, at the bottom of the previous page. She's in good enough shape to rejoin the fleet when it returns from the DEI to China.

[BBfanboy]

Enemy possession of Hankow breaks your move to Sinyang from Wuchang. Do you expect to conquer Hankow soon?

[Canoerebel]

I control the hexsides in an out of Hankow, so my units can move through.

Since Hankow is 4x urban, I'll probably just ignore it. I'd rather get my guys as far north (east) as possible as soon as possible.

[Canoerebel]

3/4/44

I know now the antonym for "Banzai!" in John's world. It looks like this: "Arghhhh…" That was the extent of John's email message to me this morning.

Battle of Palawan: The Japanese stumble blindly into a carrier battle centered on the island of Palawan. The engagement is a bit messy - lots of aircraft downed, lots of misses, and at least three dud-hits for Allied torpedoes. The damage inflicted could have been much worse but it still was a lopsided victory, with all damage (except aircraft) suffered by the Japanese.

This week, John has lost three BB, one CA, one CV, one CVL, with serious damage to two CVL, a CV and a CL. He's a navy guy, this is a navy game, so he's really hurting form a morale standpoint.

[Canoerebel]

In preparing the next turn, I swapped out lots of depleted fighter and strike squadrons for fresh squadrons from Manila. Sorties and torps are good. So I entered orders for two of the Allied carrier TFs to give chase, hunting for cripples. Then I realized this was almost certainly a wild goose chase. Assuming Ryujo went down (two TT hits, so probably), the only other damaged IJ ships are CV Taikaku (1TT, 1 Bomb) and CL Shokatsu (1 TT). There's a decent chance they can make 20+ knots or more. There's a strong chance John will use flank speed and head for Singapore. My fuel is limited and expending two or three or four days giving chase will probably result in a much higher opportunity cost than I can every recoup. The sooner I can get the supply from the DEI to Korea, the sooner the Allied army goes on the offensive and Allied 4EB and fighters initiate strategic missions against the Home Islands.

[paullus99]

I can't imagine that he's still going to try heading north - you are better off hemming him in & on the off chance he tries to head north, putting yourself in a position to intercept.

[Canoerebel]

I've loaded up Miri, a big airfield, with strike aircraft and Corsairs set to escort. Same for Cam Ranh Bay and Manila. I think that's the best way to handle his carriers while mine resume the march to the DEI.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I control the hexsides in an out of Hankow, so my units can move through.

Since Hankow is 4x urban, I'll probably just ignore it. I'd rather get my guys as far north (east) as possible as soon as possible.

They can't move through in Strat mode, which I thought was your aim. Per recent posts on the main forum, you may have to set them in Reserve mode for them to march through. In a contested hex the AI might treat them as "engaged".

[BillBrown]

Does Miri have any fuel? Could one of your CVTFs head that way and refuel there?

[BBfanboy]

Wow - talk about serendipity! You maybe overdid the defensive CAP at the expense of some strike escorts but the result is certainly good enough!
Again, your advantage was intel on KB position so you could anticipate a clash while his weakness was not keeping accurate tabs on your DS.
Kudos on your decisions! [&o]

[Canoerebel]

Miri has plenty of fuel but it's only a level two port. When KB isn't lurking, I have LSTs drawing down on the fuel and delivering it to Manila (but that program was just getting underway when KB started this raid). Anyhow, I don't want to bog down Death Star by sending her off on a tangent to Miri. Death Star will fully refuel at Manila in about a week, as it makes the return journey from the DEI.

[Canoerebel]

Most of the units passing through Hankow are Chinese. They can't use strat mode on roads, so they'll just be on the march using the good road through the hex.

Like you, I've been following that thread by the guy having trouble moving from Manila to Clark. But I think that was a function of the hex just changing sides. In this case, I control the necessary hexsides to travel through Hankow. I am confident my units can do so without issue.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Most of the units passing through Hankow are Chinese. They can't use strat mode on roads, so they'll just be on the march using the good road through the hex.

Like you, I've been following that thread by the guy having trouble moving from Manila to Clark. But I think that was a function of the hex just changing sides. In this case, I control the necessary hexsides to travel through Hankow. I am confident my units can do so without issue.

Right. Again, I was looking at the rail from Wuchang to Sinyang for the Chinese. It would save them a few days even with changing modes. But I agree they can also just keep marching.

[Drakanel]

Well, I'd probably hunt his carriers for fun [:'(]. But then again, even if you do not it's completely ok. He can only retreat to Singapore. Those carriers who took hits are likely out of the war. If you catch them, good. If not, they're going to be relegated to Singapore for a while.

I agree that your big supply operation is more important right now. With his carrier force depleted, he's going to be less and less able to mount significant carrier operations.

[Canoerebel]

3/5/45

DEI: Mini Death Star nearing Boela in good order. Death Star is 23 hexes NW of Boela and will come as near as about Morotai. The big supply run is about to commence.

[Canoerebel]

3/5/45

South China Sea: Allied strike aircraft made some noisy raids vs. KB passing nearby, but missed. But a USN sub hit CA Haguro, which is significant.

[Canoerebel]

3/5/45

Fancy Pants & Funnel Cakes: I figured out at least part of the supply issue and it's now flowing forward into northernmost China. Rangoon has built up 350k and it wasn't flowing forward. Let's see if I can get the spigot flowing right.

[JohnDillworth]

HQ units draw supply. Set up a conga line of HQ units all through China and up North and supply will follow

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

HQ units draw supply. Set up a conga line of HQ units all through China and up North and supply will follow

Only Command HQ's will draw an extra amount of supply.