Tophat vs ADavidB - Back at It

[ADavidB]

August 13 -

Rain hindered operations all over the map again this turn. Only two Japanese combat missions got off the ground; a fighter sweep that couldn't find Homan and a small bomber attack on Hengchow that caused little damage. No Allied combat missions got off the ground and only two Allied recon missions got off. Considering that we both must have about 5000 planes apiece, this is really odd. The fact that even Mogami has alluded to the effect that weather has on air missions makes me believe even more that this is an "undocumented design feature" rather than exceedingly bad luck on the parts of Tophat and me in this particular PBEM game.

So, in the absence of any air campaigns I continue to reposition forces and build bases. I am starting to move my forward combat fleets to positions from which they can reach naval shipyard bases. All of my bases that have shipyards now have Level 9 ports or better so it really doesn't matter where I have my ships and subs undergo upgrades. BTW - speaking of shipyards, another of the Pearl Harbor battleships is now closing in on System Damage Level 3 and the April 1942 upgrade. This BB has gone from SDL 10 to SDL 7 in a few weeks, so it may well upgrade before the big October "rush".

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

August 14 -

Once again weather kept most air missions on the ground. The only bombing run to get off was a Japanese training run in the Philippines. However, several recon flights went out from both sides, so things seem to be improving a bit. The weather forecasts for this turn are mainly calling for rain and clouds, rather than for heavy rain everywhere, so maybe things will improve a bit more.

I had a busy turn organizing conveys to move new troops and ships to where I want them to be. I have engineers building up bases everywhere. My philosophy here is to approach building backwater bases as being analogous to building up "houses and apartments" on Monopoly lots - I get more victory points and if my opponent "lands" on them it will "cost" him a lot. [:D]

Tophat is really building up Timor in a big way. He now has around 24,000 troops in Lautem alone. I've just brought a B-17 squadron back to Darwin - I'm not planning to bomb Lautem, but some of the other smaller nearby Japanese bases instead. It will keep Tophat "nervous" and give my bomber pilots easy practice. I'm glad to see all of those troops and Zeros sitting in malarial Timor, with no targets to practice on. [:'(]

In other Intelligence news, SIGINT informed me that the 4th Division is still in Bataan. So it appears that a massive invasion of Canton Island isn't so imminent after all. That's okay; I didn't change my plans in response to the first report anyway.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

So we're at a lull as of mid-August 1942. Tophat is consolidating his "historical" gains and I am building my infrastructure. This is a good point to give an update on the state of the Allied forces in the Game. My strategy of avoiding unnecessary losses has been paying off nicely and I've got about as good a selection of forces available to me as I could hope to have at this point in the Game.

First and foremost, the Victory Points ratio is still at a very manageable level:

13463 Japanese VPs vs. 5475 Allied VPs

That's a 2.46:1 ratio. Unless Tophat does something incredibly clever or I do something incredibly stupid I don't believe that I will have to worry about Tophat approaching the "magical" 4:1 VP ratio. And Tophat is not currently threatening to capture any significant quantities of additional victory points.

Given that I'm in good shape as far as VPs are concerned, the next thing that bears examination is the forces that are available to me. First, let's look at major naval units. I have the following combat units available to me, with 99% of them in full combat shape:

Battleships - 17
CVs & CLs - 9
CAs - 21
CLs - 27
CLAAs - 9
DDs - 140
Subs - 94

I also have hundreds of APs and AKs available, as well as plenty of support ships and auxiliaries. So I can stand up to the Combined Fleet most anywhere as long as I don't allow local Japanese Air superiority.

As far as Air Units go, I have the following, which include Soviet air units:

Land-based Air - 6084
Naval Air - 786

Even excluding the Soviet units there are still a lot of useful units there. Now, probably only a quarter of the totals are true first rate Front Line air units, but as long as I am careful to bring my air units to bear where they can meet the enemy at one-to-one or better ratios I can maintain control of the air over my territory and forces. The next big step will be to establish a viable long range fighter capability, which I will start to do in the Fall of 1942.

BTW - I have also continued to build up a significant reserve of combat aircraft. Here are the quantities of active land-based combat air units along with the reserve numbers for those Allied aircraft that are currently in action both at the Front and in the Rear, not including Soviet air units:

Fighters and Fighter bombers:

Brewster 339D: 5x16, 3x8, R66
CW-21B: 1x16, 1x8, R90
F4F-4: 7x24, R522
Hawk 75A: 2x16, 1x8, R110
Hurricane II: 19x16, 1x12, 1x8, R271
I-153c: 2x11, R1
I-16c: 3x11, R0
Kittyhawk I: 9x16, R277
Mohawk I: 5x16, R52
P-36A: 3x72, R85
P-39D: 3x72, 3x24, R266
P-40B: 3x72, R93
P-40E: 3x72, 6x24, R71
Spitfire Vb: 7x16, R27

Bombers:

A-20B: 2x64, 1x16, R514
B-17E: 3x48, 4x16, R173
B-24D: 5x16, R226
B-25C: 2x64, 3x16, 4x12, 1x8, R423
B-26B: 3x64, R218
Beaufort I: 1x16, R128
Beaufort V-IX: 9x16, 2x12, 6x8, R268
Blenheim IV: 1x16, 2x12, R291
Hudson I: 7x16, 1x12, 1x8, R169
IL-4c: 1x16, R13
SB-2c: 4x16, R21
Wellington III: 4x16, 5x12, R57
SBD Dauntless: 3x24, R1000
Swordfish: 1x12, R81
T IVa: 3x16, R24

So, if needs be, I can sustain an intense air battle for quite some time. But I want to avoid doing so unless I have a good strategic reason or a good opportunity to inflict greater damage on my opponent's forces than he can inflict on my forces.

As far as Land units go, I have the following number of units in the game at the moment:

INF: 227
ENG: 205
HQ: 77
CD: 50
ART: 34
AA: 26
ARM: 12

Only a handful of units out of that total are isolated and subject to loss, and none of those are important units.

As far as Bases go, my buildup has resulted in the following availability of useful bases for the Allies:

Ports: L10: 7, L9: 10, L8: 3, L7: 2, L6: 3, L5: 7, L4: 17, L3: 15, L2: 7, L1: 30

Note that I have 17 bases that are big enough to replenish any type of naval vessel, and 47 other bases that can replenish vessels given the right support vessel.

Airfields: L10: 6, L9: 7, L8: 6, L7: 5, L6: 15, L5: 19, L4: 35, L3: 21, L2: 15, L1: 23

Note that I have 97 bases from which I can fly level bombers, and an additional 36 bases from which I can fly naval bombers.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

BTW - I have no idea what I did wrong with that picture that I included. Sorry for all the blank space...[&:]

Dave

[ADavidB]

I haven't heard from Tophat since Friday. That's unusual for him, because he is usually bugging me daily for more turns and he was commenting a lot recently that August 1942 was going by too slowly.

Sure, everyone goes off-line once in a while for various reasons, but what bothers me here was that Tophat went AWOL for nearly four months in a PBEM game that we had going back in the beginning of the year. He commented to me afterwards that he was "...on an involuntary 97 day sabatical in the wilds of Georgia"...whatever that means. (Army duty? Jail? Remake of "Deliverance"?)

If he is gone for some indeterminant time again that will be a real pain. I've got this game to probably 99% of where I want it to be at this stage and I just don't have the enthusiasm to start all over again...

Gawd, I wish that there was a way to retrieve passwords...[:(]

Oh well, maybe Tophat will suddenly show up again after having been kidnapped by a busload of cheerleaders for the weekend...[;)]

Dave Baranyi

[EUBanana]

Remake of Deliverance?

[:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hope all will be resumed soon Dave.

You've done a sterling job so far [8D]

Steven

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hope all will be resumed soon Dave.

You've done a sterling job so far [8D]

Steven

Thanks Steven. I'm not giving up on Tophat yet. Maybe I'll just archive the last couple of turns from both sides and keep them in case he pops up again four months from now. [;)]

(I hope that it isn't that long! [:(])

Dave

[Ron Saueracker]

Major bummer. I had to postpone a game, originally just for a few weeks but plans changed on the fly and what was going to be a simple move across town has developed into a major relocation to another country. Threw the one game I had vs Mogami into a hiatus so long he lost interest.

I'm tempted to start another one but all these big bugs are ruining my appetite. Hopefully the next patch fixes a few of the big boys for good.

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

Major bummer. I had to postpone a game, originally just for a few weeks but plans changed on the fly and what was going to be a simple move across town has developed into a major relocation to another country. Threw the one game I had vs Mogami into a hiatus so long he lost interest.

I'm tempted to start another one but all these big bugs are ruining my appetite. Hopefully the next patch fixes a few of the big boys for good.

I've found v1.602 to be reasonably stable and I haven't run into any show stoppers as far as bugs are concerned. But the 1.7xx patches have appeared to be pretty shaky, so I haven't wanted to go anywhere near them.

My major problem with starting another campaign game is one of personal burn-out on the first six months of the full campaign. It takes a lot for me to work with all the design decisions that I disagree with. I know how to work around them, and my current game against Tophat is an example of my best ideas of how to play within the design contraints. But I just don't have the "heart" to struggle again with upgrading B-18s and trying to fight with Buffalos and Brewsters and trying to get radar on my ships and so on. I've done it too many times and it has gotten too much like "work" to want to do it again. I have to admire those folks who continue to start new games from scratch.

I guess if there was a Japanese player who would be interested in starting a January 1943 campaign, I would be interested, but no Japanese player is likely to want to do that, because it means putting up with what is essentially the reverse of the 1941 campaign.

Maybe I'll give in to the "dark side" and buy WPO at some point. String's AAR makes it sound interesting.

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

[aztez]

I really do hope that TopHat will continue because I agree with you it is a burden to start all over again [:(]

I actually had Vorsteher quit on me... but luckily enough Hawker was kind enough to continue with game.

Anyway, as Speedy said you have done good job so far and let's hope this one will continue to the end.

[Speedysteve]

Maybe I'll give in to the "dark side" and buy WPO at some point. Speedy's AAR makes it sound interesting.

Hi Dave,

Did you mean Strings AAR for WPO or my AAR using Nik Mod?

I agree though that WPO is tempting. If I was not so busy with RL and PBEM I would buy it now. As it stands it will probably be purchased later on in life.

Regards,

Steven

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: aztez

I really do hope that TopHat will continue because I agree with you it is a burden to start all over again [:(]

I actually had Vorsteher quit on me... but luckily enough Hawker was kind enough to continue with game.

Anyway, as Speedy said you have done good job so far and let's hope this one will continue to the end.

I understand that sometimes anyone has to take a break or stop. I was in that position this past summer. But I let my opponents know what I was doing at that time, so they weren't left in the dark. However, I've also had a half dozen opponents disappear on me in the past year, albeit never this far into a game.

I expect Tophat to be back anytime, and justifiably blast me for not being patient/trusting, ( [;)] ) but this is a bit worrisome...

Thanks -

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Maybe I'll give in to the "dark side" and buy WPO at some point. Speedy's AAR makes it sound interesting.

Hi Dave,

Did you mean Strings AAR for WPO or my AAR using Nik Mod?

I agree though that WPO is tempting. If I was not so busy with RL and PBEM I would buy it now. As it stands it will probably be purchased later on in life.

Regards,

Steven

Ooops - you're right, I meant String's. Sorry. I'm home sick and hopping between my PC and the "throne", so my concentration is even less than usual...[X(]

Thanks -

Dave

[anarchyintheuk]

Your aircraft loss ratio is pretty amazing. BTW I'm going with the "remake of Deliverance" theory too. [;)]

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

Your aircraft loss ratio is pretty amazing. BTW I'm going with the "remake of Deliverance" theory too. [;)]

I worked very, very hard to not only develop and maintain that ratio, but to slow down the Japanese advance while I was doing it.

Let's hope that Tophat finishes shooting soon and heads back to a pc...<g>

Thanks for the comments.

Dave Baranyi

[ADavidB]

Tophat is back. His PC got hit with a trojan and his 7 year old daughter tried to "help Dad" by downloading what she thought was anti-virus S/W...

You can well imagine the result...

If he is lucky there will be a turn this evening...

Dave

[Speedysteve]

Glad to hear it Dave.

Recommend Ad-Aware an AVG if Tophat doesn't have them [8D]

[ADavidB]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Glad to hear it Dave.

Recommend Ad-Aware an AVG if Tophat doesn't have them [8D]

I don't know what he is using, but he has been fighting it for the past three days. Some of the newer trojans are real bears to dig out of a machine. I spend an evening last week just to get one out of my daughter's laptop. Fortunately, my PC was fine (and well protected), so I was able to burn some good trojan diggers onto CD and transfer them to my daughter's laptop while it was disconnected from the Internet - this way the little buggers couldn't call in "reinforcements". [:D]

Now if my daughter will only let her anti-virus, anti-trojan, anti-spyware S/W run regularly and not install too many new "scareware" programs loaded with spyware and trojans than I will have a chance to get some turns in with Tophat...

Thanks -

Dave

[ADavidB]

August 15 -

Well, it took a while to go over everything and try to remember just what I was doing some three or four days ago. Such are the problems of getting older I guess… [>:]

There was more action this turn than in many recently, although around half of my planned air missions still didn't get off the ground. Tophat was surprisingly quiet in China, so I sort of made up for it. First off, my IL-4cs got off a nice sneak attack at the troops that have been sitting at the crossroads near Wuchow for the past couple of months and hit some engineers. Tophat had no LR CAP over his troops. Then some of my SB-2cs hit hard the Japanese troops that are besieging Kungchang. Finally, my troops at Kungchang got off a nicely successful artillery bombardment of the besieging Japanese troops after the Japanese failed to get any results from their bombardment. Tophat must be planning something in China however, because he has put aircraft in Changsha again for the first time in a long time. But I am ignoring that "invitation" and instead will be sending my bombers against the Japanese troops at Homan next turn.

Elsewhere, those Japanese TFs that were unloading all those troops at Lautem finally left. My subs in the neighborhood didn't find them, but one squadron of Hudsons did try an attack from Darwin, but the bombers didn't end up hitting anything. I've moved my subs in the hopes of getting at least one "cheap shot" off on the retiring TFs. I've also set my B-17 squadron to bomb the Japanese troops at Kai. This is a "tit-for-tat" response to Tophat's air unit training grounds in the central Philippines. I wonder of Tophat will try to bring a Base Force into Kai in response?

In other news, more Japanese subs showed up in the Eastern Pacific. I'm sending odds and ends ASW ships after them, but that's more to give my ships practice than any serious attempt to sink those subs. I also received news from SIGINT that Tophat now has over 345,000 troops in Tokyo! I wonder why he is building up such strength way back there? Maybe he is trying to expedite the recovery of the troops that were weakened in the battles for Manila, Singapore and Soerabaja? Could he be staging troops for some massive invasion in the Eastern half of the Pacific? I wonder if he would try a "mad dash" for "USA" at the end of the year?

Dave Baranyi