The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn
Ive notice that if planes don't fly for a few days in a row, they will start to be grounded to repair even the smallest amount of damage or fatigue maintenance.

I think that's only the case if you stand down a squadron. If you leave it with a mission like "Airfield Attack" set to range 0 (I usually use range 1, though), I don't think the ground crew put the planes into maintenance.

[JohnDillworth]

Dan, sweeps aside are you sending daylight raids of B-29's without escort fighters?

[Canoerebel]

From everything I've seen and read, Escort missions against enemy hexes is a sure way to lose fighters and a lot of pilots. Even superb fighter squadrons get chewed up flying escort. I may not be doing it right, but other players seem to be having the same experience. So I'd rather fly night missions, fly missions against targets unlikely to have meaningful CAP, or fly sweeps for a number of turns ahead of the bombing missions.

[Canoerebel]

A brief break from the game to share with you the strangest passage of fiction I've ever read.

The story is set in a small town in the South circa 1940s. One day, a forlorn "hunchback" comes to town. His cousin, an eccentric woman who owns a store, befriends him. Years later, the woman's ex-husband, her mortal enemy, is released from jail and shows up in town. The hunchback witnesses his arrival, is taken with him, and shows it this way:

"The hunchback stood at the end of the [barbecue] pit, his pale face lighted by the soft glow from the smoldering oak fire. He had a very peculiar accomplishment, which he used whenever he wished to ingratiate himself with someone. He would stand very still, and with just a little concentration, he could wiggle his large pale ears with marvelous quickness and ease. This trick he always used when he wanted to get something special out of Miss Amelia [his cousin], and to her it was irresistible. Now, as he stood there the hunchback's ears were wiggling furiously on his head, but it was not Miss Amelia at whom he was looking his time. The hunchback was smiling at Marvin Macy [Amelia's ex-husband and mortal enemy] with an entreaty that was near to desperation. At first Marvin Macy paid no attention to him, and when he did finally glance at the hunchback it was without any appreciation whatsoever.

"'What ails this Brokeback?' he asked with a rough jerk of his thumb.

"No one answered. And [the hunchback], seeing that his accomplishment was getting him nowhere, added new efforts of persuasion. He fluttered his eyelids, so that they were like pale, trapped moths in his sockets. He scraped his feet around on the ground, waved his hands about, and finally began doing a little trotlike dance. In the last gloomy light of the winter afternoon he resembled the child of a swamphaunt."

This is from "The Ballad of the Sad Café" by Carson McCullers.

[Canoerebel]

That passage typifies the "Southern Gothic" genre of literature. According to Wiki, "Characteristics of Southern Gothic include the presence of irrational, horrific, and transgressive thoughts, desires, and impulses; grotesque characters; dark humor, and an overall angst-ridden sense of alienation."

In addition to Carson McCullers, the following were noted for their contributions to that genre: William Faulkner, James Dickey, Erskine Caldwell, and Flannery O'Connor. I've also seen Harper Lee included, though for the life of me I can't see how To Kill a Mockingbird would fit. For that matter, neither would Deliverance. But Flannery O'Connor, Erskine Caldwell and Carson McCullers? You bet.

[Canoerebel]

3/24/45

Operation Unicycle: Another day of frustration. While my Corsairs performed well in sweeping Fusan, I came up with some new doctrine: forget using Spitfires to sweep low; forget any notion that fighters coming from a short distance will arrive before bombers coming from 3x the distance; and forget using 4EB in daylight raids unless nearly certain no CAP will be encountered.

On the credit side, much of the reinforcements have landed at Gunzan along with 300k+ supply. 5th Indian Div. and a number of arty and tank units will arrive in two days. 7th US Div. is about a week out.

I'm not contesting any efforts John makes to bring reinforcements to Korea. Heck, the more the better. I may eventually find that destroying enemy units (where I can get to them with good western Allied units plus concentrated air power) is my most efficient means of scoring points. Korea may mean more from that angle than anything else!

But we're in this for the long haul. Next turn, Corsairs (mostly) will sweep Fusan and Nagasaki. 4EB will spread out (I want to try something), including the first-ever missions vs. Toyohara and Shikuka. The 2EB will try again at night.

John has been flipping turns. He's either working an angle or trying to get the game over so that he can move on to his next match. Probably the former.

[JeffroK]

I think at this point of the war you will suffer higher losses than you do in the early years. As long as the raids are effective the loss is acceptable so tinkering with settings is important.

It could have been Alfred, someone said that players pore over their air losses. They seem to give more value than ground troops or small combat vessels. Would you be happy to lose a DD for a good cause??

[nicwb]

I've also seen Harper Lee included, though for the life of me I can't see how To Kill a Mockingbird would fit. For that matter, neither would Deliverance.

"Deliverance" was pretty shocking when it first screened - I would have thought some of the background characters encountered might qualify as "grotesque".

I have to agree about "To kill a Mockingbird" -maybe they were thinking about that passage in the book where the children go into the Radley house on a dare ?

[CaptBeefheart]

You learn something new every day on this AAR. Today its Southern Gothic fiction.

Cheers,
CC

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: nicwb

I've also seen Harper Lee included, though for the life of me I can't see how To Kill a Mockingbird would fit. For that matter, neither would Deliverance.

"Deliverance" was pretty shocking when it first screened - I would have thought some of the background characters encountered might qualify as "grotesque".

I have to agree about "To kill a Mockingbird" -maybe they were thinking about that passage in the book where the children go into the Radley house on a dare ?

Deliverance has the dark characters, of course, but they aren't "exaggerated. There is a bit of exaggeration in the setting but the main characters, events and setting are plausible. That's why I don't think it's "Gothic." The same for Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: JeffroK

I think at this point of the war you will suffer higher losses than you do in the early years. As long as the raids are effective the loss is acceptable so tinkering with settings is important.

It could have been Alfred, someone said that players pore over their air losses. They seem to give more value than ground troops or small combat vessels. Would you be happy to lose a DD for a good cause??

I agree. I'm only three days into Unicycle. I'm adjusting my settings, trying to find the right combinaton. On two of the three days, though, my bombers haven't managed to score meaningful hits and losses have been basically 1:1. That doesn't help, short-term, towards auto-victory. Let's see how things are going by the end of March.

A week ago, during one four-turn strech, the Allies scored roughly 1200 points to about 150 for Japan. That's a solid ratio for auto victory. If I can achieve a decent air-war ratio of 2:1 or 3:1 while also scoring a 200 or 300 points a turn in raids against Home Island industry, that's good. But if the air war ratio is 1:1 and that Allies score 50 points, that's not good.

[Canoerebel]

The Saga of 5th Indian Division: This unit has been around the world. When it arrived on map in 1943, it shifted from India to North America, via the Mediterranean, as part of the massive shift of focus from Sumatra to the Pacific. The division arrived too late to participate in the invasion of Hokkaido, later re-directed to the Aleutians. It then remained at Prince Rupert for months, prepping for Amchitka Island, an invasion that was scrubbed. It then took part in Big Tent, the invasion of the DEI, as one of the core divisions targeting five major enemy bases. 5th Indian's target was Morotai. It occupied the key island against light opposition and then remain there as the occupying force for many months. I don't think 5th took part in the Luzon invasion but did take part in the invasion of Foochow, China, that followed. Thereafter, the unit moved all over, helping here and helping there, and playing an important role in the North China campaign in 1945. After helping take Tsingtao in March, the unit boarded ship and is currently in transit to Korea.

The Saga of 1st Marine Division: This unit was the backbone of the invasion of Sumatra in late 1942. After securing Sabang it moved along the north coast, helping take Medan and other cities. It withstood the early Japanese counterattack but, to my surprise, gave way suddenly. It then retired to Sabang to regroup, forming the heart of the garrison that made a desperate stand. The unit was destroyed when Sabang fell in early July 1943. After being rebuilt (and with low experience), the unit moved to Hawaii while prepping for Eniwetok. It eventually broke into RCTs and participated in Roller Coaster, taking and/or occupying Merauke, Bathhurst Island and Babar. Eventually prep changed to Kendari, but that operation never got underway. In early 1945, the unit boarded transports. It is currently unloading at Gunzan, Korea. I don't think the unit has been in a serious fight since Sabang.

[Canoerebel]

I haven't run the next turn, but John gushed this OpSec in his email:

"The fight in China is pretty exciting. We’ll see how it plays out over the next 3-4 days. Will you have an open road to Manchuria or be pushed back 200 or 350 miles?

How about the aerial fighting over Fusan? Goodness."

He apparently doesn't realize the Allies are shifting to Korea and have no plans to advance much further in northern China (until the Chinese army makes it up there from Canton in about a month). I'm leaving a decent force to counter his army around Tsinan and vicinity. I don't anticipate being "pushed back 200 or 350 miles."

[Lecivius]

Verbal Diarrhea is the bane of any security.

[Canoerebel]

Yeah. This tells me (I think) why he's been flipping turns and which way he's leaning. That's helpful info.

The area of North China where we're campaigning is a vast one with few bases that are worth few points. It doesn't matter if I'm pushed back, as long as I don't lose an army. But I don't think he can push the Allies back in any meaningful way. I think he's more likely to run his army into stiff opposition, both on the ground and in the air.

[JohnDillworth]

Well I think fighters getting chewed up as escorts is the point. Much better to have fighters chewed up than B-29s. You can’t afford to lose 30 heavies a day. If fighters lower that number it is a good thing

[GetAssista]

At this point in the campaign you should encourage John's offensive operations on land by all means possible I guess. Cue supply drain and potential trashing of good LCUs like so many times before in those risky counter-attacks

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth
Well I think fighters getting chewed up as escorts is the point. Much better to have fighters chewed up than B-29s. You can’t afford to lose 30 heavies a day. If fighters lower that number it is a good thing

There's truth there. But overall it's just a bad idea to employ fighters as escorts. If they're needed, I'm better off not attacking (usually). The Allied pools of bombers and fighters (and experienced pilots) are too shallow to forgive waste.

Right now I'm trying to wear down John's fighter corps. Fortunately, he's willing to fight over Fusan rather than making me come all the way to the Home Islands. It's a tough, tight battle, but I think the Allies are making pretty good headway. That progress is more noted in the next turn, which I just ran.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista
At this point in the campaign you should encourage John's offensive operations on land by all means possible I guess. Cue supply drain and potential trashing of good LCUs like so many times before in those risky counter-attacks

Agreed.

For those wondering "why Korea instead of China?" here's the answer. China is a vast land sucking up supply. The terrain is good for maneuver and the Allies had a strong western army that could take on any Japanese force. But airfields and supply are too scarce and depositing any for distribution tends to see it frittered away here and there. Also, it is hard to destroy enemy units here. They're more likely to retreat further north, further from my airfields and supply and closer to his.

But Korea is sort of an "island." The supply dropped at Gunzan filters inland but not beyond my perimeter. The Japanese army there is large. Mine is large. The terrain offers some good opportunities. And everything is proximate to my big airfield. A number of targets are susceptible to bombardment TFs. I like the setup a lot. The disadvantage is that John can try a Dunkirk, but if Allied air eventually dominates, that's not as much of an option. I'll try to make John lose an army here.

[Canoerebel]

3/25/45

A much better day in the air, a good day at sea, and a good day on the ground. John is pretty excited about his offensive in China. I don't think he's aware that I've just moved an army from China to Korea. I think he's aware there's a growing threat to Korea but I don't think he's decided how to handle it yet. There are lots of forces in motion now.

Korea: Most of 1st Marine Div. is ashore and 5th Indian Div. is coming ashore. Supply is now in excess of 700k (that's a sight for sore eyes). I think the Allies will move on Moppo first. Gunzan is safe and the base to the east looks safe too. In the air, the Allies did pretty solid work at Fusan. At sea, a CL/DD TF bombarded Port Arthur and it's suddenly-busy airfield to good effect.

China: Parrying John's thrusts is made more difficult in that there are so many units wandering all over the place. Some weak. Some strong. Today I destroyed one weak unit east of Tsinan. I've elected to keep two infantry divisions, one RCT, and one armored unit on the Tsingtao/Tsinan Front (rather than immediately moving them to Korea with the rest). These, in addition to 9th Australian Div. and a bunch of Chinese troops, should be enough to handle the Tsinan Front, I think.

To the south, John is closing on Suchow. I think his army is much weaker. Mine is too, but sufficient to handle the threat, I think.

Allied air power should begin asserting itself in a meaningful way now - mainly 1EB and 2EB.