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I agree completely with CR.

Is the 231 fighters you can stack at Tiv a support limit or just how many you have in transfer range?

I wouldn't be worrying about stacking the airfield beyond support limits and would load it up with every last fighter in transfer range.

The caveat, of course, is the danger of having your LBA rendered inoperable by a heavy bombardment.

Your surface forces really need to win the day, or night as it were, to keep the airfield in the equation.

Make the target as hard as possible!

Turn sent. I opted for...aggressiveness. [8D]

ORIGINAL: Anachro

Turn sent. I opted for...aggressiveness. [8D]

Anticipation, is making me wait.

April 5th, 1943

I always make you guys anticipate and than nothing happens! No air attacks, no surface combat. My battleships move out but encounter nothing, neither do my MTBs and PTs. I think John moved all his ships north, west, and then south again. Interestingly, despite my battleships being very close, he launches no bombers and doesn't even get very good DL on my battle fleets. He has all the DL at Trivandrum. Canoerebel might be onto something in thinking he might perhaps be trying to flesh me out of my port.

The question is, where does John go from here? Both a Dutch sub and patrol craft spotted another Japanese force south of Ceylon, seemingly only composed of fighters, moving west. The sub confirms that a CVL (CVL Kushiro) is in the TF. Does John move southeast and attempt to link up with his other carrier(s)? Does he once again head north in case I try and flee? I haven't really moved from Trivandrum for the last few turns after all. Moreover, given the positioning of my battleships, John might want to move southeast of west, not north where he might run into them. What do you think John would do? What should the prudent commander do?

1. Remain in fortress Trivandrum. Though, John is building fighters up on Ceylon as my base-bombing campaign has subsided somewhat.

2.Move my remaining transports at Bombay back to Trivandrum and keep CAP in place to protect them. Send surface vessels that can be safely sent north at flank speed. My carriers have had their planes offloaded and can be near or north of Goa within the day. The slower battlewagons might have problems and could stay to harden Trivandrum. My two BB forces that moved towards John can also perhaps flee north.

3. What else?

Potential flank speed path of my carriers. Note they have enough fuel to make it to Bombay at flank.

Prince of Wales and her escorts. And so on and so forth... Of course, I can just send everything back to Trivandrum. But fighter buildup on Ceylon and his new fighter-dedicated CVL on its way all seem to suggest he is building fighter strength for sweeps on Trivandrum.

Why are you toying with the idea of flank speed runs now? You have way more facts at hand than we readers do, but I can't see abandoning the safety of Trivandrum at this point. You can overload the airfield, as another reader mentioned. He's afraid of your hardened-target. Don't let him spook you.

I feel like I can create a hardened target while getting select ships to safety. My CVs, for instance. I'd need to keep a decent amount of surface ships around to stave off bombardment.

Movement in the face of the enemy is inherently risky. Why move from an already-hard target to find another? Be prepare and let him come. He'd take a licking, I think. And he knows it. He's showing respect for your base. Don't you have a sub-continent full of fighters that you can call on?

ORIGINAL: Anachro

I feel like I can create a hardened target while getting select ships to safety. My CVs, for instance. I'd need to keep a decent amount of surface ships around to stave off bombardment.

I think I would be more concerned about his subs staking out the area around Trivandrum than any other threat to your carriers. True, a fast carrier at flank speed is going to be a difficult target, but there are so many subs ... and their torps work all too well.

I overload Trivandrum with 450 fighters. All ships head back to protect port. Shipping from Colombo flees to Trivandrum as well.

April 6th, 1943

I guess it's a good thing I listen to reasonable voices like CR instead of following my gut. KB2 moves north. More importantly, I set my fighters to 50% CAP last turn for some rest. Meanwhile, my bombers and sweeps begin once again degrading and destroying Japanese fighters on Ceylon. John clearly is trying to gather aircraft for sweeps against Trivandrum. All my transports, except for some small riffraff, are safe for the moment in port at Trivandrum as well.

He's already feeling the pressure of "now what?" He's just lost a DD to an air attack on a TF that wasn't properly defended, KB is sailing around having accomplished nothing or next to it, and he'll figure you have lots of subs vectoring in. So what does HE do now? Does he feel like he should continue to gather strength to go against a hard target or does he decide it's time to withdraw. Having lost Colombo already should add to his concerns.

Does he have enough of an army marooned on Ceylon to make this an all-out Dunkirk-in-the-IO operation? Can he provide cover to transports to come in and withdraw his Ceylon units? If so, that's going to be his focal point and KB is mainly going to assume a defensive role. He'll strike if he has a good opening but he's not going up against a level eight airfield.

P.S. I wouldn't worry about overstacking to the N-th degree. Overstacking has modest affects that are far outweighed by the ability of your fighter corps to put up huge numbers, plus John's going to be further dissuaded if his mouseovers report 700 fighters there. I'd have just about ever fighter and fighter bomber posted there, including your fleet carrier fighters moved to LBA rather than sitting aboard ship in port.

Wow, that's a lot of PT boats! This kind of feels like the swarm of fast, small boats that the Iranians could potentially use against the USN in the Hormuz Strait. His carriers are awfully close to Colombo...

Yes, my fighters are already off the decks at Trivandrum and acting as LBA!

Japan is in a very vulnerable position...my advice would be to take the fight to the southern Ceylon ships with waves and waves ships and of course continue sweeping and bombing, and base your SAGs' at Colombo.

Where can he rearm at safely? Nowhere! Where can he replenish lost planes? Nowhere. Those carriers are toothless.

John is nuts, once surprise was lost he should have fled.

This AAR has the best, most clear maps (and ones that fit on the screen).

It is a joy to read.

@Timotheus Thank you!

April 7th, 1943

Not much to report today. Again no strikes, John's CVL fighter force doesn't even move west, it stays exactly where it was last turn. I think he is providing cover here first for what my sigint states perhaps, which is that...John seems to be reinforcing Ceylon with another division? I'm not sure what he's thinking here. I have 2-3 more divisions on the mainland which can come to the island quickly, plus more that can be called on because I have a port to land at now. Moreover, I have 1100 AV already on the island with more arriving by plane while I wait for John to go away. Once he does, I will bring in a LOT more. John already has 2+ divisions at Trincomalee and one at Koggala, plus 5-7k men in the other bases; troops at Trincomalee are moving northwest. He is sending more? Is he going on the offensive? Interesting.

My subs move ever closer. My PT boats will try again to hit John's force today before retiring to Colombo. 500 fighters at Trivandrum with more next turn.

That's probably misinformation, intentional or accidental. He would have to bring an army if he really wanted to contest Ceylon. It seems too late and too uncertain for such heroics.