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That's it! "Cafard"! Thank you, thank you, thank you. That drove me crazy last night and again this morning.

I heard from John late last night (or early this a.m.) that he is enjoying the end-game despite all that's going on. He seems committed to seeing it through. That's good news! In response to my email comment that the game is probably drawing towards its conclusion, he wrote: "We’ll both know when it is over!" That sounds to me like he's working himself into the right frame of mind to attack. I hope so. I think he'll really feel better about the whole thing if he goes down fighting rather than with a whimper.

I think he'll really feel better about the whole thing if he goes down fighting rather than with a whimper.

Agree completely -- once the overall outcome is no longer in doubt, it's much, much more fun to go down fighting hard.

Glad to hear that this game will continue - and looking forward to the AAR on your pickup game with Obvert. Double the enjoyment for the Peanut Gallery !

+1!!

Here's my scintillating eclipse report: The eclipse was about 97% here with sunny skies.  I took a long mountain bike ride - one of my usual routes on dirt roads near Lavender Mountain.  Some of the roads were open and some in woodlands.  The latter had the deepest shadows by 2:30, but the shadows contrasted strongly with the patches of sunlight, which were still quite evident even at the peak of the eclipse.  I'd never ride that particular route at 2 on an August afternoon, but it was pretty comfortable and the evening birds and the crickets began calling.  IE, I enjoyed the outing....but it really wasn't any kind of spectacular event.  People had really gotten worked up over everything, including schools letting out at 11 a.m. this morning.  Probably 97% of the people who got worked up about it ended up saying, "That's it?"

11/7/44

Back to our regularly scheduled game.

KB: Two enemy carrier divisions accounted for - one in the Marianas and one in the Makassar Strait. Both northbound, probably heading to the Home Islands. ...and decisive battle?

11/7/44

Carriers Way Out Here? Regular readers know that two carrier divisions are believed to be in the DEI...and that I've wondered whether John might raid merchant shipping in the Bay of Bengal. Surely he won't....but this is John III.

Today a picket sub reported a Judy west of Sabang. This is probably a carrier-borne scout plane. John could be monkeying with me or this could be the real thing. If the latter, he could scrub the mission if he concludes he can't achieve surprise. But he's not a tame lion; he's a stubborn one; he might just pull the trigger.

11/7/44

Fancy Pants: Successful secondary attack on the right flank today; successful attack in the center today; tomorrow key major attacks on the left and right. I think the one on the right will succeed, blowing up one of John's best units. If so, the right turns into a vortex of destruction.

And, on the Japanese MLR near Changsha, the Chinese will shock attack tomorrow, building on today's 4EB strike, the first of the war in that sector.

Good to see you applying pressure on the Chinese MLR. I know you wanted to keep the status quo there to occupy Johns troops. But I think cutting the main roads in a few spots will trap many of his troops in a vulnerable position and will create even more space for your troops on the coast.

That was a great move to target your 4EB on the base west of Changsha. I'll bet John didn't see that one coming. Would be really cool to blow a hole in his line.

Haha I posted for CR to do that a few weeks ago so you can direct all your praise my way [:D]

Several readers have urged me to do something in China: attack, bomb, make things happen.

I've briefly explained why I was forbearing, but here's a more detailed answer that might interest some readers, especially newer players.

Deciding when to attack along the MLR in China involved a lot of factors and turned on a gut feeling as to when the time was right.

Attacking jungle hexes wasn't going to work, so I'd have to come out into clear terrain where my bombers could get a crack at vulnerable enemy troops. But moving into the open would've given John a chance to employ his bombers against vulnerable Chinese units in open terrain. To counter that, I'd have to bring in precious fighters to provide LRCAP.

My fighters had far more important missions than providing LRCAP over Chinese or Japanese hexes. So I waited until the front was "on fire." John has so many major issues in China now that bombing Chinese units is probably a relatively low priority. But even if he does, the situation is so confusing - so rattling - that I want to overwhelm him with dilemmas.

That's why I waited so very long to release the Chinese to attack. Other strategies might've worked too, but this feels "right" to me.

Let's see how it develops.

I expect that if you put s good crack in that MLR all of China is going to be in play. Chinese divisions are infantry heavy so he needs arty, tanks and air to counter. Remember in 1942 when the Allies did not have enough of anything? Shoe is on the other foot now

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Here's my scintillating eclipse report:

My wife bought those funky glasses, and it was spectacular! Only had about 75% here or so, but it was great and well worth seeing even though the occasional cloud came thru hiding the sun. But even seeing the wisps of the clouds floating by the obstructed sun and across the dark moon was a sight to see.

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

I expect that if you put s good crack in that MLR all of China is going to be in play.

China fell the moment the Allies secured Foochow or wherever it was they first landed.

100% Totality for about 2 minutes. It was cool, a bucket list item checked off, but all in all, I was underwhelmed. Year and Years of watching universe/space shows on TV... I guess I was expecting something a little different.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

11/7/44

Back to our regularly scheduled game.

KB: Two enemy carrier divisions accounted for - one in the Marianas and one in the Makassar Strait. Both northbound, probably heading to the Home Islands. ...and decisive battle?

Last time John moved carriers to the HI, wasn't it to upgrade to Sam fighters? Maybe he had to wait until pools filled again to upgrade the next batch of CVs.

Time to bring a long day to a close.

Y'all have a good one.

ORIGINAL: AcePylut

100% Totality for about 2 minutes. It was cool, a bucket list item checked off, but all in all, I was underwhelmed. Year and Years of watching universe/space shows on TV... I guess I was expecting something a little different.

Really? I got right on the path of max totality and I while nothing happened that I wasn't really expecting, I thought it was spectacular.

The glow around the horizon had a color tone that I don't think I've ever seen in nature before and had me wondering of the word "umbra" and the name for the color "umber" are related (look it up later). And, the... shimmering isn't quite the right word but I'm at a loss for a better one, of Sol's corona was magical.

I could feel the heat of the sun on my skin falling off as totality approached.

And, it was impossible to watch the eclipse and not be reminded of that I was sharing an experience that had amazed, astounded and terrified humanity for perhaps 200,000 years.

Can't wait for the next one in 2024.