Notes from a Small Island

[dave sindel]

Greetings Dan,

You've been playing Erik now for about 8 months of real time - 5 months of "game time". How does this game compare to your experiences with John III ? Any thoughts or impressions you care to share ?

[Canoerebel]

Erik has elected to play a strongly defensive game under circumstances in which John III would have played more aggressively. In the end, Erik's way may prove the wiser course. But, for example, I was glad he didn't send his subs hunting my damaged carriers after the CV battle. John would have. Erik has pulled way back and attended to his inner defenses thoroughly, while yielding outer defenses without offering opposition. He's built a massive interlocking network of strongpoints. His preparation has been impressive but it has also created (or left) opportunities I didn't expect to have.

I've managed to close on the Home Islands, which was quite a coup. There have also been some smaller things, like the big bombing raid against his aircraft based at Ominato. These things have been encouraging. Erik is an elite player, so I had fears he'd foresee and counter my every move.

As the game with John III shrinks in the rearview mirror, my regard for John's ability as a player has increased. He left holes in his interior defenses and blindly employed KB without adequate detection of my carriers, but he's an experienced, aggressive, and willing player. He knows how to fight, likes to fight, and makes things pretty challenging. He's a fun guy to play against.

On the other hand, John was given to revealing details about turns before I got to see the movie and gets so enthused that he's prone to boasting. Erik on the other hand is laid back and accomodating to my wishes. That's very much appreciated.

[John 3rd]

I would never, EVER Boast!

BANZAI!!

Sweet, innocent, and pure...that is the John-San.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

I would never, EVER Boast!

BANZAI!!

Sweet, innocent, and pure...that is the John-San.

I'm just lucky I was NOT drinking coffee when I read that! [:D]

[Canoerebel]

Somewhere in John's AAR, he noted that he likes to provoke AFBs.

The one i remember the best from our game was the turn in which he reconquered the Celebes. His email to me: "That turn ROCKED!"

I had three thoughts when I read that: (1) "Dang it, John, don't give things away before I've seen the movie;" (2) "I'm gonna get you for that;" and (3) "What in the world are you thinking? You've reconquered Celebes but left Luzon wide open to invasion."

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Somewhere in John's AAR, he noted that he likes to provoke AFBs.

The one i remember the best from our game was the turn in which he reconquered the Celebes. His email to me: "That turn ROCKED!"

I had three thoughts when I read that: (1) "Dang it, John, don't give things away before I've seen the movie;" (2) "I'm gonna get you for that;" and (3) "What in the world are you thinking? You've reconquered Celebes but left Luzon wide open to invasion."

Aye. Who'd a thunk that he should be pilloried for liquidating an enemy beachhead?

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Somewhere in John's AAR, he noted that he likes to provoke AFBs.

The one i remember the best from our game was the turn in which he reconquered the Celebes. His email to me: "That turn ROCKED!"

I had three thoughts when I read that: (1) "Dang it, John, don't give things away before I've seen the movie;" (2) "I'm gonna get you for that;" and (3) "What in the world are you thinking? You've reconquered Celebes but left Luzon wide open to invasion."

Aye. Who'd a thunk that he should be pilloried for liquidating an enemy beachhead?

Not for "liquidating an enemy beachhead", but for celebrating it as if it was a game-winning victory (although I appreciate that Japanese victories are tough to get and should get some celebration.) I guess John's expressiveness just contrasts sharply with Canoerebel's measured response to everything that happens.

vs [:-]

[Chickenboy]

Edited.

[Lecivius]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

vs [:-]

Now this cracked me up [:D]

[witpqs]

tactical victory du jour

Tactical victory soup. I kinda like that.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

tactical victory du jour

Tactical victory soup. I kinda like that.

Like the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like...'victory'.

[John 3rd]

Hey now. That victory occurred in late-43/early-44 and it did ROCK!

Didn't mean to hijack your thread Dan. Thought you would enjoy that I do, occasionally, poke my nose in to see what is happening here.

To Chickenclucker: "Victory" equates to...what...

BANZAI!

[Canoerebel]

Always good to have you reading and writing, John.

The Celebes campaign was in early '44. I let it go without much of a fight because Luzon was wide open. When the Allied invasion of Luzon succeeded a week later against minimal opposition, I knew I'd made the right choice.

[Canoerebel]

8/14/44

Air War NoPac: Weather shut down air ops from Shikuka today, so no sweeps over Hokkaido and no bombing of Kuriles airfields. Eric reinforced his fighters at Sapporo, which was to be the primary target. Ditto tomorrow.

Air War Burma: A mix of Hurricanes and Spitfires performed poorly in sweeps of Rangoon. Eric hasn't reinforced here, and his fighter numbers are about 50% of what they were a week ago. A mix of Corsairs and Hellcats will sweep tomorrow, hoping for roughly 1:1 results.

[Canoerebel]

8/15/44

Air War: Sweeps of Sapporo do well (2:1 or better) and of Rangoon acceptably (1:1 or slightly below). weather keeps the 4EB grounded.

Oz: Aussie regiment sneaks up and takes Katherine (with a big assist by 4EB) from a naval guard unit. This is mostly a case of catcher's indifference on Erik's part.

[Canoerebel]

8/16/44

Air Wars: Decent sweeps over Rangoon and very good sweeps over Sapporo. There's no indication, to this point, that Erik is having trouble maintaining this level of commitment, but I'm going to keep on as long as possible. Fighting the air war is a necessary evil even at 1:1, but thus far the Allies have been consistently doing better than that, especially in the key battle for Sapporo. The B-24s hit Uruppu Jima airfield hard.

[witpqs]

Are those ground Jake losses from a ship or the airfield?

[Canoerebel]

Those were on the ground at Uruppu Jima.

[Canoerebel]

8/17/44

Air Wars: Erik leaves Sapporo largely undefended, probably just temporarily; Allied fighters still manage a pretty effective day attritioning his air force.

Medium Term: Over the past week, I've seriously changed the tempo of my play and posting, just to give a different look to things.

The Allied fleet carriers damaged in the late Kuriles Naval Battle will all be repaired in 35 days, with the exception of Lexington, which needs about 70 days. Recently arrived reinforcements more than offset what I lost in the battle (plus the temporary absence of Lexington). But since the other four damaged CVs need about 35 days, meaning they'll be ready around September 20, I'm going to let my full fleet of CVEs upgrade on September 1. So Death Star will be ready for action around September 21. I think the F4U-1D comes online on Sept. 1, which will allow enough to become available to upgrade some fighter squadrons before any action takes place.

I don't think Erik knows the whereabouts of Death Star, though he will be making sensible deductions. He probably is allowing for the possibility of surprise tactics, which may help me just a bit.

In Oz, the Allies are advancing on Darwin, relying on 4EB and a few ground units to take weakly held bases. The Allies may be able to reclaim Oz without the necessity of amphibious action - a case of "catcher's indifference," but quite helpful nonetheless.

[Canoerebel]

8/18/44

Air Wars: Eric brought his fighters back to Sapporo. They tangled with my sweepers and escorts, but in an odd way. The Corsairs came early in big numbers and got little interaction with the CAP, making me think some of this is LRCAP. Later sweepers and then the escorts did tangle well. On the day, losses were roughly 1:1, with Hellcat escorts skewing the results. The three RAF squadrons scored six hits destroying 12 Resource points while taking few losses but plenty of damage. Down at Rangoon, a mishmash of low-quality fighters (mainly Hurricanes) did okay against good enemy fighters. In the Kuriles, B-24s whacked Ketoi Jima good, destroying 30 Judys on the ground (I don't know why they're there).

Now comes the switch up. Tomorrow, many topnotch Allied fighters will sweep Kushiro, which hasn't been targeted in weeks. Then P-47Ds and Hellcats will escort perhaps five or six Superfort squadrons, which haven't been employed in three weeks. I hope that they get through and score some hits while taking acceptable losses (I think they will), but the main objective is to "keep Erik honest," giving him another look that will force him to spread his defenses and to keep guessing as to what might happen next.