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Commanders do not forget to bring fuel to the front but, as Cap Mandrake frequently points out, "the Staff" will frequently let you down! [:)]

1/8/45

John the Raider: KB is on an easterly course, bearing down on Allied shipping at Canton Island and vicinity. Just how determined is John? How far will he come? Can I entice him or goad him to charge? I hope so.....

1/8/45

Inveterate Raider Part II: Because out here in the Pacific, the Allies have a carrier force that might be sufficient to take on John's raiding CV TF. I need him to come further and stay longer...and hope that he might blunt his carrier air against LBA. Lots of "ifs, ands, maybes" here but worth a shot.

1/8/45

Gulf of Carpentaria: Another Japanese carrier TF is set to raid the Gulf, I think. This is John working very hard to interdict Allied supply. Again, a good idea but implemented far too late (I think.)

John has two other carrier TFs recently seen in the Java Sea heading west. These could be in the South China Sea, but equally possible they're taking position to interdict any Allied moves on the Andamans or Nicobars. (I'm giving John lots of reasons to suspect such a move is imminent, though it isn't.)

In truth, you can pursue any tactic you want and this show is helping Japan how?

I would think the CVs by Ellice are dangerously exposed, with most likely predictable paths of movement. And you could say the same for the ones near Darwin.

Can you night bomb his ports with low level B29s? No DL required. So many other little tactics to pursue here. Have fun.

I think John worked hard to come up with a good plan and is now working hard to implement it. If my analysis is correct, it's simply that the plan might have worked six months ago or a year ago but is no longer viable today.

So I credit him for thinking and striving. Ultimately, though, it strikes me hardest as: How do you work yourself into a philosophy of war that justifies KB in SoPac when the enemy is all over the heartland.

It's strange, but it makes for a fun game.

I've done some port bombing using 4EB. One raid, about a week ago, sank a bunch of small stuff at Nagasaki. I'll be doing more later.

1/8/45

Fancy Pants: Two successful Allied attacks near Nanking. Nanking is next, and looks weakly held. The Allies army is beginning to roll.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel



So I credit him for thinking and striving. Ultimately, though, it strikes me hardest as: How do you work yourself into a philosophy of war that justifies KB in SoPac when the enemy is all over the heartland.

It makes not having your KB shot to pieces a LOT easier.

I think you should go for those carriers in the Ellice Island you are close to PH which could repair even major damage and he is so far away from any repair facilities in medium damage would be the end of them.

1/9/45

KB East: In the words of the medical doctor in The Bridge on the River Kwai: Madness. Madness!

Search is very fickle in this game, deliciously so. John might have false scouting info on enough of your carriers that he believes he has a handle on them.

1/9/45

KB West: A Japanese carrier force heading into the South China Sea runs into bad luck.

1/9/45

KB Center: Raiding into the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Calling John "an inveterate raider" is dead-on the mark.

Seems kind of reckless for a deep Japanese raid in 1945.

1/9/45

Fancy Pants: Enemy carrier raids are fun to watch, but this is the real show.

CR, thanks for the pictures of the backwaters; you have been busy. In another AAR you mentioned that you like for Port Moresby to have 'broad shoulders'; any plans for Terapo? Other backwater basa?

I'm excited by the prospect of early Soviet activation. Can you provide some of your thoughts on how an amphibious assault might play out - targets, forces available, enemy resistance?

1/10/45

KB East: John continues his carrier raid in CenPac. He scores an effective strike vs. merchant shipping at Pago Pago (more about that in the next post). If he keeps this up one more day, my carriers will have the drop (angle) on him.

1/10/45

Raid On Pago Pago: KB scores well in raid on Pago Pago, sinking five good TKs. These were sacrificial lambs, though I didn't necessarily wish the sacrifice to be so large.

Will John remain fixated? 50% chance "Yes," as he sees lots more fresh meat right in front of him; 50% "No," as he worries about what might be at Pearl Harbor.

At this point, I really don't know what he's going to do. Here's hoping the inveterate raider mentality wins out.

From the standpoint of interdicting my LOC, this raid accomplishes nothing. Not to be cavalier about good ships, but I have more than enough tankers. More importantly, I already have more than enough fuel at Oz to handle needs until the end game.

So this raid won't impact my ability to wage war. The only downside is the points John harvested will impact the Auto Vic determination, as does any positive points for Japan.

1/10/45

Raid on Boela: John says this raid was accidental - he miscounted hexes.