Notes from a Small Island

[aleajactaest10044]

Just catching up on your AAR..one question..Did this really happen or was it the Sync Bug?

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/photo_view.asp?file=0;4555425

[Canoerebel]

It really happened in the game. It didn't happen in the sync bug version, which was the "movie," so I'm not positive if it was part of the Mergui invasion force or most of the troops heading to the non-base hex to the NE.

[Canoerebel]

Leaving on family trip, back tomorrow night. No time to post in detail. Mergui fell on the 28th, which is important. The sweep test over Sapporo was hotly contested with 1:1 results that gave me good info on what to do and not to do from here.

Y'all American folk have a Happy Thanksgiving. See you soon.

[Canoerebel]

2/28/45 and 3/1/45

NoPac: Heavy Allied sweep activity over Sapporo on the 28th produced 1:1 results that do not warrant further contested sweeps. I'll continue to selective sweeps. On the 1st, loading commenced for the invasion of Shasukotan, south of Onnekotan Jima. On the 2nd, Death Star and it's fighters will attempt an ambush of enemy bombers targeting the Allied army retiring from Bihoro.

SEAC: British/Indian army takes Mergui on the 28th. There's a chance the Allies can reach and take Tavoy before reinforcements arrive. I have mixed feelings about the possibility Erik could withdraw from his Rangoon-area MLR. I need that base eventually but want his MLR to remain far forward for another month or two.

[RangerJoe]

If he left his CD guns but withdrew everything that he could by air, wouldn't that make the base a nice target for a paradrop? They would not get any disruption from his anti-invasion gunfire. You could trying reconning by firepower with some bombardment task forces.

[Canoerebel]

He'll have high forts and 2x defensive terrain and almost certainly the equivalent of a mixed brigade of infantry.

[Canoerebel]

3/2/45

There are mainly two things of interest today - three USN DDs set to bombard Sapporo, and Death Star moving to Hokkaido to (hopefully) interdict Erik's regular bombing runs.

Raid on Sapporo: The first prong of the plan goes very well. The DDs encounter and sink four E-class ships and two SSX. They still have enough ammo to deliver an effective bombardment, destroying more than a dozen Japanese aircraft.

You've seen my long string of tepid bombardments, so this one is a welcome change. One DD hits a mine, but the TF makes its escape and doesn't undergo any air attacks during the daylight hours.

Erik will adjust - he hasn't kept sufficient nav search around Wakkanai. He'll beaf up his mines, but any time an Allied TF is in the vicinity, he may have to withdraw his aircraft. That's useful info.

[Canoerebel]

3/2/45

Death Star: DS takes position at the contested hex and downs more than a dozen search aircraft.

I had doubts DS would cover the required five hexes, as a few support TFs and CVE TFs might've slowed down movement. The question is: will Erik's bombers sortie against the Allied army moving through this hex?

[zuluhour]

......there may be penalties for operating in the coastal hex.....maybe only on landings? (only fleet carriers)

[RangerJoe]

I think that it is only base hexes.

[Canoerebel]

3/2/45

Raids on Death Star: The ambush works, albeit not as planned. Erik's bombers didn't target Allied troops today (instead, modest raids targeted Etorofu's airfield). But Erik had many strike aircraft set to the necessary range, and they sortie in numbers. DS's CAP easily handles the raids - mostly by second tier bombers and fighters. One kami hits an RN CV (damage not known yet, but probably not grave).

[Canoerebel]

3/2/45

Air Losses: Lopsided victories like this have been infrequent for the Allies.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: zuluhour

......there may be penalties for operating in the coastal hex.....maybe only on landings? (only fleet carriers)

There aren't any penalties for using aircraft carriers in non-base coastal hexes.

[Canoerebel]

3/2/45

CV Victorious: The kami hit does minor damage.

All carrier TFs replenished from AEs, and thus have 100% sorties and ammo.

Until yesterday, the plan had been to put DS into port to replenish missing aircraft. Instead, it'll now head north to handle the Shasukotan invasion. DS will make it to Shikuka fairly soon, but operating out on the fringes has little risk of encountering serious opposition, while allowing proper pacing of the remaining invasions.

[BillBrown]

That is going to leave a stain.

[RangerJoe]

A very nice CAP trap.

Also, if you have replenishment groups in the area, if your carrier based air units are set to receive replacements they should be able to get them from the replenishment groups, no matter where those replenishment groups are based.

[BBfanboy]

Jack and Jill flew over the hill, hoping to catch Dan Roper
Both were downed, while obvert frowned at Dan's rope-a-doper!

[JohnDillworth]

Jack and Jill flew over the hill, hoping to catch Dan Roper
Both were downed, while obvert frowned at Dan's rope-a-doper!

That was a little better than I thought it would be......[:D]

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
Jack and Jill flew over the hill, hoping to catch Dan Roper
Both were downed, while obvert frowned at Dan's rope-a-doper!

Thanks, BBfanboy. That's creative and clever.

I'm a fan of eloquent and moving poetry, so here's something I wrote after a tough hike in the Cohutta Wilderness Area on October 5.

STRANGELY NAMED

Highland folk called it Black Mountain Road
and named a bend where it fell (or rose)
after a mishap that oddly bestowed
a meaning only one living man knows.

A highlander once told that man a tale
of cleaning a woods boar, slain for a meal,
he threw its cod-piece and watched it sail,
and spin ‘round a limb, a grisly pinwheel.

The highlander said that he’d never seen
a discarded cod-piece hit the ground
it always snagged someplace in between,
then circled, making a bush-rattling sound.

That highlander, speaking with old-timey verve,
revealed the meaning of Possum Cod Curve.

[RangerJoe]

[:D][:D][:D]