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Quarter KB North (at Adak): Five CVL: 74 F, 51 B (50 were shot down over Kodiak a few days back), 8 Aux.
Quarter KB West (near Port Blair): Four CV: 47 F, 64 B, 3 Aux
Half KB (at Jaluit): Four CV, three CVL: 169 F, 208 B, 5 Aux

The KB is split three ways -- and you know where the pieces are. If nothing else, that's a major intel windfall.

7/9/42

Bay of Bengal: The Quarter KB shows more teeth, moves closer to Ramree, and send out strike missions. My CAP does't do as well as expected, so a number of xAK and one or two xAP get hit hard. But they had already delivered the troops, which inlcuded most of an EAB. Cursor intel reveals this TF as 5 CVE and 2 CV with 111 F, 114 B and 12 Aux. To the west, I have four CVs and a CVL (well, Hermes) that can put up 74 F (some of those are Fulmars), 36 SBD, and 56 torp (a mix of Avengers, Albacore and Strinbags). I don't have enough to go head-to-head yet. But if John moves his carriers closer to strike Ramree and Akyab, perhaps a window will open. I think he knows what he faces and the risks he's taking, so I'm not counting on anything.

Burma: John is moving more units into the open ground to form a defensive line. That's just what I want him to do.

NoPac: John has unloaded his two units at Akutan, but they must be badly disrupted, because no attack today. A two BB bombardment of my base at Cold Bay wipes out supply!

CenPac: Half KB disappeared from my screen.

SoPac: Quiet.

On the chance - I'd say 50% - that John moves his carriers closer to Ramree, plus sends a combat TF into the area, I've configured my forces as follows:

1. Lots of fighters at Akyab, Cox's and Chittagong.
2. Two surface combat TFs to sprint from Chittagong to Ramree and then back; this in an effort to contest any enemy move at sea.
3. The Allied carries will move a few hexes north (true) of Trincomalee. If enemy carrier air should be roughed up tomorrow, the Allied CVs would move to intercept. (The Japanese carriers lost nine Zeroes and six Vals today.)

4 CVs? 3 British and 1 American, right?

OT: CR - I really appreciate your candid and detailed descriptions of the whys and wherefores of your moves. It helps a relative newb like me understand the game better with every read. Good stuff.

CR = Initiative (almost), which is great at this stage of the game.

7/10/42

The Bay of Bengal is becoming a cauldron. The Allies came out on top today (I think), but this is just the beginning and it's gonna be tough.

Bay of Bengal: Two IJN CAs lead a combat TF to Ramree, where it clashes with a three CA TF led by Ching Lee. The Allies get the best of this affair, sinking CA Nachi outright. Several Allied ships take light damage. Later, massive IJN strike groups penetrate some stout Allied CAP to finish off CA Houston. My CAP has some pretty good pilots, so I was disappointed in their performance. Overall on the day, losses were roughly 1:1, but my leaky CAP over Ramree peformed particularly poorly. I'll have to try to control this aspect more carefully. I lost enough P-40Es to begin worrying, once again, about my pools. I can't sustain losses like these too long (I lost 27 on the day). Bettys from Port Blair sortied against shipping at Trincomalee (talk about range!) but struck out against some leaky Allied carrier CAP, giving John the location of my CVs. I may have to call on my carrier Wildcats to supplement CAP if this battle rages out of control for awhile, which I think it will. John has moved alot of bombers here from China. Bottom line: Sinking Nachi is in and of itself a major victory (that's the third IJN CA), but this battle's going to be bloody and tough.

NoPac: The enemy bombards at Akutan and will likely attack tomorrow. My force is very low on supply, so I don't think they will hold.

CenPac: Half KB (or a detachment) remains at Jaluit.

Oz: Quiet except for the IJ activty on the west coast.

Question: After the surface combat, I split my TF into two groups: An "undamaged" TF led by CA Pensacola that is retiring to Chittagong to reprovision. The second, a two-CL TF, had enough damage that I was going to send it to Colombo...only I didn't pay enough attention to how I did the splitting. I've discovered to my dismay that Ching Lee is in command of the two CL TF. I want to switch him over to the Pensacola TF. If I detail both TFs to report for duty at Chittagong, a level five port, I can make the switch, right? I'm thinking I can combine the two TFs, then detach the two CLs first, which will leave Lee in command of the main TF.

Answered my own question. Since I still had the turn file open, I recombined the two TFs, then split them in the correct order. Voila, Ching Lee commands the Pensacola TF.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Answered my own question. Since I still had the turn file open, I recombined the two TFs, then split them in the correct order. Voila, Ching Lee commands the Pensacola TF.

Another of the game mechanics details that players need to figure out and then remember to apply at the right time. Most frustrating of all is paying good PP to hire someone like Willis Lee and then lose him when you disband the TF in port to repair some minor system damage on all ships. [:(]

A few thoughts about the current state of my game with John III:

1. John has largely been reacting to moves by the Allies for quite awhile now: (1) three BBs in NoPac for months, followed by amphibious operations; (2) four BBs and a good part of the KB in CenPac for five weeks now; (3) lots of activity on Oz's west coast; (4) a Mini KB and lots of air in the Bay of Bengal. Each of these followed Allied amphibious operations. The only area where he took the initiative was in SoPac - New Caledonia - and that's tapered off considerably due to the situation in the Gilberts.

2. John's done a good job in stopping cold each Allied advance (except Ramree), but the "open and obvious commitment" of so much of his ships has robbed him of any semblance of a force-in-being defence.

3. The Allies haven't landed any major blows yet - no enemy carriers or BBs hit; only three CAs sunk. The most telling blows perhaps against DDs (31, by my count, and 19 of these worth more than six points, including seven worth 13 points) and aircraft (the Allies have a 1,300 plane lead).

4. On the flip side, John has done very little to attrit important Allied assets. I've lost five BBs (three old, Repulse, PoW), five CA (Astoria being the best), and 30 DD (only Triomphant was worth more than six points).

5. John continues to play very aggressively. Since I don't have any major operations scheduled in the next 45 days - excepting doing whatever it takes to protect Ramree and Akyab, which is a big exception - he may be able to reclaim the initiative, especially if he can reclaim the Gilberts within that time frame.

6. As John works to reclaim the initiative, what will happen in each theater over the next two months? Predictions:

a) NoPac: John controls the sea (part KB and BBs) and air, so I think he'll come for Cold Bay. I don't think he'll come for Kodiak. I'll "underplay" things so that I don't telegraph my plans in this region.
b) CenPac: John will reclaim the Gilberts fairly soon. Once that's done he's probably finished in this region.
c) SoPac: He'll move on Luganville fairly soon. I'm not sure he'll come for Fiji, but he might.
d) Oz: I think he's done here except for minor offensive action and major defensive preparation.
e) Bay of Bengal: He's probably going to work the Ramree angle pretty hard while establishing his MLR in the Burma plains.
f) China: Looks like he's done here with the possible exceptions of Chengte and Kweilin, and perhaps a move at some point in the Sian sector. (He's going to claim he backed down in China of his own accord; I contend strongly that he couldn't have progressed much further anyway.)

7. Allied plans:

a) Defend Ramree and Akyab and prepare to take the offensive in Burma. By and large, this is a low risk operation. The biggest threat is draining my aircraft pools, which would undermine my ability to fight. 41st USA Div. is en route to Bombay. It should arrive at the front in about 60 to 75 days. The Allies will probably coordinate offensive action in this theater to compliment the moves against the Aluetians.
b) Prepare for the invasion of the western Aluetians. D-Day probably late September.
c) Should I detect enemy preparations in the western Aleutians, I would divert my buildup to target another region, most likely New Caledonia.
d) Western Oz will serve as the feint and deception target.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

e) Bay of Bengal: He's probably going to work the Ramree angle pretty hard while establishing his MLR in the Burma plains.

I'm no Burma expert by any means, but this aspect of your planning has gone over my head from the start as you took the line of jungle nexes. WHY does he have to come onto the plains, for an MLR or otherwise? All Burma is to him is Oil, and he has that now. Why must he go out into the open plains? This has seemed to me a core assumption of yours from the start, and I never understood why you assumed it. What am I missing?

All Burma is to him is Oil, and he has that now

That might be John's thinking .. but IMHO) Burma must be a place to defend agasint a possible Allied onslaught. At least make a Burma theater not worth the price of admission. This has been a huge problem of late and AFB's have been exploting an IJ tendency not to build up the proper defense, which I sense to be quite significant. Simply -- Forget the Irrawaddy Valley and oil ..Allied armor in the Thailand plains is fatal for the IJ ...Burma is the best place to ensure this does not happen too soon ...

I would suppose JFB's might cite "Mountbottoms" orginal plan, history, and the real lack of meaningful representation of the real Allied obsticles including a pre-war inculcation that a "modern" WWII moblie division could not sustain an offense through jungle. I can say in this game not only is it possible, but if the IJ does not plan for it .. an Allied Autovictory is probable.

Once the Allies took the line of jungle hexes, all that John had left was hexes in the plains. IE, the Allies took Cemetery Ridge and the Japense are down in the Rose Field and in the Peach Orchard.

I think what you're asking is why don't the Japanese stay in the city hexes?

They can, but that's a long string of pearls subject to being cut at numerous points. By taking the jungle, the Allies can now move into open terrain and move in force against any of a number of enemy bases. For instance, the Allies can move south of Magwe, drawing supply from Ramree, and that would threaten the enemy position all the way up the railroad to Mandalay and Schwebe and Myitkyina.

It looks obvious to me. I think others who have been through this campaign see it the same way (GJ, for instance). Or am I missing something?

MHO: Burma is a prison camp for both sides, it's who wants to guard whom. With that said it will probably play into Dan's hand as it's secondary value is in distraction value. I say this without any real working knowledge of a major IJ thrust for India but that does not appear to be the case here. I watch Dan's ARR's for specific cases of distraction, or feignt and counter punch he provides us with so well. I think Dan could teach a FOW class had he the inclination.[;)]

I think Burma can be a decisive theater. I intend to make it one in this game. Burma doesn't suffer the drawback of fighting in the open seas, which can be dominated by Japan into '43. I can pretty much control the flow of supply (little chance of interdiction), I can concentrate on infrastructure to my heart's content (airfields!), and I can feed in good ground troops in numbers as large as needed.

Since I have seized the high ground, I should be in a good position to move en masse against an enemy that is dispersed and lacks good defensive terrain. If I win that campaign, I open up China and probably have a good shot at moving into Thailand and Vietnam.

All this, mind you, without any threat of massed KB cutting off my LOC.

Oh, in the meantime, I can engage in the fun amphibious operations, but in '42 and early '43 those are tough to sustain against a concentrated enemy naval presence. And in this mod John's naval presence is considerably enhanced.

If I'm right, Burma will prove to be the key campaign of the game. And John might have lost the campaign in March 1942, when the Allies first began seizing the "high ground" unopposed.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Once the Allies took the line of jungle hexes, all that John had left was hexes in the plains. IE, the Allies took Cemetery Ridge and the Japense are down in the Rose Field and in the Peach Orchard.

I think what you're asking is why don't the Japanese stay in the city hexes?

They can, but that's a long string of pearls subject to being cut at numerous points. By taking the jungle, the Allies can now move into open terrain and move in force against any of a number of enemy bases. For instance, the Allies can move south of Magwe, drawing supply from Ramree, and that would threaten the enemy position all the way up the railroad to Mandalay and Schwebe and Myitkyina.

It looks obvious to me. I think others who have been through this campaign see it the same way (GJ, for instance). Or am I missing something?

I agree, he can leave the open line of hexes between your jungle hexes (where you have malaria effects) and the city-row. The cities give him oil, air bases, and defensive urban terrian. He may not hold them to 1945, but he'll hold them longer than he will hold open rice paddy forward of them. Through that city line he has superior mobility due to the railroads. He can see you come out of the treeline. Even with tanks, crossing the open hex line is several days warning/bombing.

There is no perfect Japanese defense strategy in Burma. but going out to sit in the open hexes adjacent to the jungle is the worst one available. And that semed to be the one you assumed a priori he would do. I had thought you might be counting on his "Attack!!!" personality features, but I wasn't sure.

My preference, since you didn't ask [:)], would be to insert small holding forces in the jungle and use the balance of the Allied force now resting there for sea-borne mobility purposes down the coast with a view to severing the Bangkok/Malaysia axis, or perhaps to rampage down the west coast of Malaysia on the assumption most of the garrison is devoted to holding Singers.

At this early date in the game (July '42 is still early), a seaborne threat suffers from the same downside that I've demonstrated with my other amphibious operations. John can respond strongly and shut it down. But he cannot shut down a land offensive in Burma, and I think you're misreading his ability to defend the long rail line that can be interdicted quite near the base. He's in trouble in Burma. And if he's in trouble in Burma, he's in trouble in Thailand (and then Malaya).

I can only mount one major amphibious operation at this point. IMHO, I'm far better off going for the Aluetians by sea and Burma by ground. That gives me two powerful and (I hope) sustainable offensives in '42. That's not bad, to my way of thinking.

As for the open ground, I was just using that as shorthand. The point I was making was that John had already surrendered without a fight the very best defensive terrain in Burma. He made a huge mistake.

I'll be watching to see what happens.

I know that tone of voice! And yes, thinks often turn out to be more difficult than we envisioned. That'll happen here. But the Allies are gonna win.