The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Bullwinkle58]

Yeah, the lyric timeline doesn't work. They imply, without saying explicitly, he was in Virginia until at least May 10th, THEN went back to TN. Where RE Lee wasn't.

[Bearcat2]

"Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train
'Till Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again
In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well

The night they drove old Dixie down, and the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down, and the people were singin' they went
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me
"Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E Lee"
Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest,
But they should never have taken the very best"

[DW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM

[Canoerebel]

11/5/44

Fancy Pants: IJ 70th Div. evaporates on the left flank; John may be sacrificing 2nd Tank Div. on the right.

[Canoerebel]

11/5/44

KB: What's this enemy carrier division up to?

[Lowpe]

2nd Tank Division might very well be the best unit in the Japanese OOB. Depends how it was modded, if at all.

[Canoerebel]

2nd Tank Division was the Japanese unit that gave my 33rd (32nd?) Division fits out in the open near Amoy a month back. My division was topnotch but was getting eaten up by the enemy and nearly got isolated. So 2nd Tank Div. has my respect.

That John has committed it to open terrain near big Allied airfields and to plug a hole in a leaky dike may say a great deal about John's current mindset.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

2nd Tank Division was the Japanese unit that gave my 33rd (32nd?) Division fits out in the open near Amoy a month back. My division was topnotch but was getting eaten up by the enemy and nearly got isolated. So 2nd Tank Div. has my respect.

That John has committed it to open terrain near big Allied airfields and to plug a hole in a leaky dike may say a great deal about John's current mindset.

Hit them with single engine bombers at 9K for a day; use the deathstar; and then strafe them into oblivion. Break out those fighter bombers and fighters and cruise in at 1000 feet.

Problem solved in two days.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Barb

Actually I think a KB losses its purpose at some point of the game - it is the chess queen, that should be sacrificed along the way to keep the king alive. However in this game the KB is burning so much fuel sailing back and forth even if covering fuel/oil/resources flowing back to Japan - it becomes a liability.

You are positioned well for air assault against Japan, maybe a base or two closer to Kyushu for fighters and you are done with. If Japan evacuates DEI of its combat units leaving just KB and garrisons there, it is a bag of VPs to collapse once the supporting structure (KB) is taken out of picture. And be sure there is a lot of VPs lying there!

Think you are right. There is just a point when Allied sea power becomes so strong that the Japanese fleet becomes redundant. (Although John has a few more ships in this mod) I think it is a mistake for the Japanese player to hoard his ships for the end game. There is a time mid war when he (she) should just go "all-in", and once that point is past, the fleet has little impact.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

That sounds like Richmond, 1865. "The night they drove ol' Dixie Down...."*

*That's a great song and for the most part accurate historically or at least plausibly consistent with history....but there is one flaw that I can't get past. "Virgil come quick...there comes a Robert E. Lee...." Well, the lyrics make clear that Virgil and his kinfolks are in Tennessee....and Lee wasn't there during the war (he might've been there very early in the war, as a colonel of the engineers - I don't think so, but I don't know for sure - but he was never there after he took command of the Army of Northern Virginia in 1862).

I am guessing that it was not Robert E. Lee that he actually saw but one of those damn reenactors. [:D]

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: DW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM

I hadn't heard this version until you posted it last night, DW. Now I can't get it out of my head. It's really good. Thanks.

[Canoerebel]

11/6/44

Fancy Pants: Important Allied attacks on the left flank, center, and right flank tomorrow. I know the latter will succeed, opening the door to clobber 2nd Tank Division.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

ORIGINAL: DW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM

I hadn't heard this version until you posted it last night, DW. Now I can't get it out of my head. It's really good. Thanks.

Just listened to a Joan Baez version on the suggest list on the above link, which I never heard before. Included: additional vocalists The Holladay Singers and The Town and Country Singers, guitarist-dobro player Norman Blake, guitarist Pete Wade, bassist Norbert Putnam, drummer Kenny Buttrey, keyboardist David Briggs, harmonica player Charlie McCoy, violinist Buddy Spicher, string players The Nashville Strings, and horn players The Memphis Horns.

[Canoerebel]

The original (actual) song lyrics go "'til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again..."

Joan either has trouble remembering that part or intentionally changes it. In early versions of the song I think she's singing "'til so much cavalry came..." and in later version I distinctly hear her singing "'til Stonewall's cavalry came...."

I don't know if that's accidental or intentional....but the idea of Stonewall Jackson being a cavalry commander and tearing up his own tracks is enough to drive a history buff nuts.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

ORIGINAL: Barb

Actually I think a KB losses its purpose at some point of the game - it is the chess queen, that should be sacrificed along the way to keep the king alive. However in this game the KB is burning so much fuel sailing back and forth even if covering fuel/oil/resources flowing back to Japan - it becomes a liability.

You are positioned well for air assault against Japan, maybe a base or two closer to Kyushu for fighters and you are done with. If Japan evacuates DEI of its combat units leaving just KB and garrisons there, it is a bag of VPs to collapse once the supporting structure (KB) is taken out of picture. And be sure there is a lot of VPs lying there!

Think you are right. There is just a point when Allied sea power becomes so strong that the Japanese fleet becomes redundant. (Although John has a few more ships in this mod) I think it is a mistake for the Japanese player to hoard his ships for the end game. There is a time mid war when he (she) should just go "all-in", and once that point is past, the fleet has little impact.

Not quite. The issue with LBA is coordination of large strikes. The KB usually has very good coordination. So combined with LBA in defense of the Hi the KB can be very effective. It's both under a large umbrella of land based CAP and supports the many land based strikes by providing a massive punch through.

Mid-war works to strike too, but the IJ player has to pick spots where the damaged CVs can be saved and the LBA can support and clean up Allied stragglers and damaged CV/CVEs.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: crsutton

ORIGINAL: Barb

Actually I think a KB losses its purpose at some point of the game - it is the chess queen, that should be sacrificed along the way to keep the king alive. However in this game the KB is burning so much fuel sailing back and forth even if covering fuel/oil/resources flowing back to Japan - it becomes a liability.

You are positioned well for air assault against Japan, maybe a base or two closer to Kyushu for fighters and you are done with. If Japan evacuates DEI of its combat units leaving just KB and garrisons there, it is a bag of VPs to collapse once the supporting structure (KB) is taken out of picture. And be sure there is a lot of VPs lying there!

Think you are right. There is just a point when Allied sea power becomes so strong that the Japanese fleet becomes redundant. (Although John has a few more ships in this mod) I think it is a mistake for the Japanese player to hoard his ships for the end game. There is a time mid war when he (she) should just go "all-in", and once that point is past, the fleet has little impact.

Not quite. The issue with LBA is coordination of large strikes. The KB usually has very good coordination. So combined with LBA in defense of the Hi the KB can be very effective. It's both under a large umbrella of land based CAP and supports the many land based strikes by providing a massive punch through.

Mid-war works to strike too, but the IJ player has to pick spots where the damaged CVs can be saved and the LBA can support and clean up Allied stragglers and damaged CV/CVEs.

I think if there is conventional wisdom for JFB's late in the game it is this -- the kb loses it's usefulness. Which to me is so wrong. The game changes so badly for Japan once the KB is diminished. The KB is always useful, just not in a bigger wrench kind of strategy.

[Canoerebel]

At this point there really isn't a serious threat to Death Star when KB is far away. But if DS had fewer fleet carriers then going up against big airfields well-stocked with enemy aircraft would be daunting and potentially dangerous. So, to me, the one thing Japan can't do is exactly what John's done and doing: lose a one-sided carrier battle and then play the softest of defenses.

[MakeeLearn]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

The original (actual) song lyrics go "'til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again..."

Joan either has trouble remembering that part or intentionally changes it. In early versions of the song I think she's singing "'til so much cavalry came..." and in later version I distinctly hear her singing "'til Stonewall's cavalry came...."

I don't know if that's accidental or intentional....but the idea of Stonewall Jackson being a cavalry commander and tearing up his own tracks is enough to drive a history buff nuts.

"Stonewall's Foot Calvary". He would have tore up his own tracks if they were getting ready to fall into the hands of the Yankees.


He is saying "Stoneman"

"George Stoneman, Jr. (August 8, 1822 – September 5, 1894) was a United States Army cavalry officer, trained at West Point, where his roommate was Stonewall Jackson."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stoneman

Ive heard Joan left out Stoneman's name on purpose in some of her performances. His name still leaves a bitter taste in some places.

It's fun to play on the guitar, Especially the C-G-F-Em progression. also heard in "The Weight" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-w9Ocl ... -w9OclUnns


Yet it still has a tearful sadness to it, as with the Am and Dm chords.


Am C/G F Em Dm
Virgil Cain is my name and I served on the Danville train,
Am C/G F Em Dm
Till Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again.
C/E F C Dm
In the winter of sixty-five we were hungry, just barely alive.
C/E F
By May the tenth Richmond had fell.
C Dm D
It was a time I remember all so well.

[Canoerebel]

In other words, the diminution of the Allied carrier fleet to some material extent - even at ruinous cost to KB - will dampen Allied freedom of movement in the vicinity of big airfields.

[Canoerebel]

It would never been "Stonewall's cavalry," though. It would always be "Stonewall's foot cavalry."

There's no disguising it - Joan gets it wrong if she's singing "Stonewall's cavalry." There was no such thing. Besides, Stonewall's foot cavalry was never anywhere close to the Danville train.