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Wakey, wakey, sir. Update to follow tonight...

Allied June 23 update:

Lots of action today. In the interests of time I'll start with the 'everything else' summary and then hit two major milestones with the game:

1. Everything else: Judys from Truk hit an Allied DE with four bombs, leaving her burning in the water. Additionally, a Jap SS torpedoes AM Oracle as she leaves the Guam region. She goes down, but her escort badly pummels the offending submarine.

Allied submarines put a TT into DD Hibiki between Guam and Yap, sinking her.

Elsewhere, another two Japanese RO-boats are beaten severely, a fleet I-boat takes a pounding and Allied air patrol claims hits from scout bombers on an SC (2 hits), an SSX (minisub-1 hit), an E-class boat (1 hit), a "CVE" (1 hit), "CVL Rhuyo (3 hits), a Mogami-class CA (1 hit) and a Hiryu-class CV (1 hit). All but the minisub were claimed hit near Iwo Jima (see below)

2. Naval battle of Iwo Jima:

A massive carrier battle takes place on June 22, 1944. During the morning phase, Allied carriers' scout DBs sight large numbers of Japanese ships to the West of Iwo Jima. Several scout bombers and scout Avenger aircraft are shot down. Allied SS in the area react into the hex, but are beaten back by Japanese escorts.

The Japanese strike first:

the first of two large raids is slaughtered by Allied UberCAP:

First:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Iwo-jima at 109,80

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 70 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Sen Baku x 55
A6M5 Zero x 157
G3M3 Nell x 6
G4M1 Betty x 20



Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 209
F6F-3N Hellcat x 4


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Sen Baku: 8 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 17 destroyed
G3M3 Nell: 4 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed


The second wave sustains grievous casualties, but eventually breaks through the UberCAP:


Morning Air attack on TF, near Iwo-jima at 109,80

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Sen Baku x 37
A6M5 Zero x 114
B5N2 Kate x 9
B6N1 Jill x 67
B6N2 Jill x 6
D4Y1 Judy x 61



Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 175
F6F-3N Hellcat x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Sen Baku: 10 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 20 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 5 destroyed
B6N1 Jill: 11 destroyed, 19 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 21 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 3 destroyed

Allied Ships
CVL Bataan, Bomb hits 1
CV Wasp, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CVL Langley, Torpedo hits 1
CVL Monterey, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 1
CVL Princeton
CVL Belleau Wood, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Washington, Torpedo hits 1
CVL San Jacinto
DD Hickox
CVL Cabot, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CLAA San Juan

Several Allied CVs are hit. Only the CVL Monterrey is in mortal danger. All other ships, with the exception of the CVL Cabot are able to sustain air operations. More about these ships' disposition in a moment...

The Allies respond:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Iwo-jima at 107,77

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 52 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Sen Baku x 21
A6M5 Zero x 36



Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 199
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 69
SB2C-3 Helldiver x 56
SBD-5 Dauntless x 17
TBF-1 Avenger x 32
TBM-1C Avenger x 115


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Sen Baku: 1 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 3 damaged
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 7 damaged
TBM-1C Avenger: 5 destroyed, 18 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CVL Chiyoda, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 9, heavy fires
CA Chikuma, Bomb hits 1
CA Maya
CVL Ryuho, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
CV Hiyo, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Junyo, Bomb hits 11, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Nagato, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Wakazuki, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CA Atago, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CV Taiho, Bomb hits 13, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Myoko, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CVL Chitose, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
DD Hatsuzuki, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Shimozuki, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
DD Akishimo, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Haguro
DD Kishinami

The damage message continues:

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CVL Chiyoda
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Hiyo
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Junyo
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Shimozuki
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CVL Chitose
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Zuikaku
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CA Suzuya
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Shokaku
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CVL Ryuho
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring BB Nagato
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Taiho
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Wakazuki

By my count, that's 5 enemy CVs; 3 enemy CVLs, 2 DDs, a CA and a BB that are mortally wounded. I'll take that for CVL Monterrey. Only the CAs Haguro and Maya escape significant damage. CA Chikuma only received one bomb hit, so she's probably still able to conduct combat operations.

Allied dispositions:

With the exception of CVL Monterrey whose damage is 14/82/35, the other damaged Allied CVs form a fourth Allied carrier TF. It's able to make 15 knots (image below) and its ships are in no imminent danger. It's able to fly some 150 planes, so it's a self-sustaining CAP for the egress. It will tack south towards Guam and then head SE towards Eniwetok.

The remaining three undamaged Allied CVs head SW 8 hexes to rendevous with the DD ASW TF and the heavy surface SCTF (BBs Iowa and New Jersey) at 105,88. The aforementioned TFs did not react as the carrier TFs did, thus they stayed behind whilest the air battle(s) occured. They will sport some 500 combat aircraft, so this still represents a sizeable combat force.

The CVTFs are only 3 hexes from Iwo Jima and are without heavy surface cover. The enemy still has at least 4 BBs and 3 CAs that he can gather into a bunch and hurl at me here. It's what I'd do. That's why I'm leaving. If I guess right, the CVTFs will start the day phase within striking range of the pursuing enemy surface fleet. If not, then we'll see how events go.

The crew of the CVL Monterrey want to help their bretheren make good their escape. They volunteer (along with two escort DDs) to move towards the enemy. Any surface intercept will first challenge this flaming derelict, hopefully allowing some precious time for the other carriers to put some distance between them and the charging surface combatants.

Guam:

Guam falls to Allied shock attack:

Ground combat at Guam (106,95)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 29577 troops, 607 guns, 796 vehicles, Assault Value = 1080

Defending force 14490 troops, 217 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 363

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Allied adjusted assault: 1073

Japanese adjusted defense: 209

Allied assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 1)

Allied forces CAPTURE Guam !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
1768 casualties reported
Squads: 44 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 40 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 71 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 77 (76 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1038 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 66 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 122 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 26 (1 destroyed, 25 disabled)


Assaulting units:
773rd Amphib Tractr Battalion
5th Amphib Tractor Battalion
4th Marine Regiment
305th Regimental Combat Team
22nd Marine Regiment
708th Amphib Tank Battalion
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
706th Tank Battalion
2nd Marine Division
318th Fighter Group
225th Artillery Grp
III US Amphib Corps
Fleet Air Wing 2
9th Marine Defense Battalion
112th USA Base Force
806th Engineer Aviation Battalion
98th Coast AA Regiment
V US Amphib Corps
39th Aviation Base Force

Defending units:
48th Ind.Mixed Brigade
54th Naval Guard Unit
29th Division
10th Infantry Brigade
52nd/B Div /2
60th Field AA Battalion
61st Air Flotilla
25th JAAF AF Bn

Two naval search patrol units are moved in immediately. The Allies have some 189 air support onshore, so after healing the airfields, this will be a buzzing hornet's nest of LBA.

Another image from the turn...

Allied aircraft earn a 7:1 A2A advantage over the combined IJNAF assaults.

It seems the game (i.e. combined scores between the mirror games) is pretty close... Any more progress??  

Hi rtrapasso,

Right now, the score between the games-as far as I can discern is not close.

With me as the Japanese in the other game, I'm way ahead-over 1000 points. The Allies in that game have neither butchered my fleet nor captured any significant VP islands worthy of the name. VP-wise, Pagan is worth squat by itself. The loss of the CA TF recently was the only significant major combatant losses endured by the Japanese. Other capital ships have been damaged (e.g., Zuikaku), but not sunk.

with Cap'n as IJN and me as the Allies (me), I have now taken a sizeable lead in the other game too. This was made possible through the destruction of the IJN fleet and the capture of Guam. The latter had an effect of swinging the victory point margin 500 points towards the Allies. Tinian will yield a similar amount. Crushing the Imperial Japanese Navy will be worth north of 1200 points too, I'm sure.

I'm also looking forward to liquidating the remnants of Japanese troops on Rota and Guam-every little bit helps. You don't get points for disabled enemy squads, so eradicating them from an island is very important too-the longer I can hold off an Allied Saipan invasion, the more difficult it becomes to eradicate my Japanese troops before time's up. This takes some time.

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

It seems the game (i.e. combined scores between the mirror games) is pretty close... Any more progress??  

Both turns now reside with the Cap'n.

So now you can work on other turns?

ORIGINAL: Mynok


So now you can work on other turns?

[:'(]

Yeah, yeah. I hope that the Cap'n will see that resistance is useless and resign before long, thus freeing me up for my other previous and ongoing obligations.

Somehow, I don't think that'll happen. [;)]

Allied June 24-25 Update:

ETA: The screenshot below was from June 24. Pretty quiet day. Most of the descriptions below involve activities on June 25, not pictured.

A wash sale: CVTFs move away from Iwo Jima. The damaged CVs that can make more than 2 knots track due East, along with the BB Washington's escort TF. They will track due East and then South once they get near Marcus-giving the Marianas a wide berth.

During the day, a CV and BB are spotted afloat at Iwo Jima. The damaged CVTF (Enterprise + 3 CVLs) launches an underwhelming attack, as they are are still within range. There is stiff Japanese CAP above Iwo still and it extracts a heavy toll on the attackers. Nonetheless, they press their attack and put 3 bombs into "CVL Ryuho", which burns heavily. Another bomb hits a "BB", probably Nagato. Some 45 Allied planes are lost in this effort, compared to 15 Japanese planes. I regard this as a 'wash'. Strictly speaking, it's always good to burn Japanese carriers, but I don't like paying retail in casualties.
d
Swing and a miss: The previously spotted Japanese BBs must have split into two or more forces. One stays at Saipan, presumeably under air cover. Long-range scout bombers from the main Allied CV effort identify two "BB"s there and "hit" them.

Another IJN surface combat group (also with a BB) has tried to swing for the fences by interdicting my shipping to the Southeast of Guam. I still have a fair amount of shipping in the area, including a large replenishment TF due East of where this interdiction attempt took place. The shipping closest to the Japanese task force now is exclusively in 'escort' mode and consists of the damaged APAs, LSTs, DDs and DEs from the Guam and Rota landings. I break off the faster moving ships from these escort TFs and cut the laggards loose. If the Japanese continue to the Southeast, they'll react into several of these, thus expending their movement and ammunition. There are 4 CVEs in the area that I order to consolidate and move out of the likely avenue of Japanese advance at flank speed.

To help delay the Japanese surface group further, I split off CA Canberra and a few DDs and put them into a surface TF with intercept orders. I'm still steamed at the Canberra's Captain's near-criminal negligence whilest letting the CVE TF burn around him. Now he'll have the opportunity to use those guns and / or die trying. I won't be disappointed if it's the latter. If he survives this effort, I'll put him in chains first opportunity at Eniwetok.

Meanwhile, 5 Allied BBs arrive at Eniwetok-from landing party escort duty or from "Bull" Halsey's heavy SCTF cover duty at Guam. All BBs are refueled and rearmed (goodness, how I love the late war Allied logistics tail). Halsey's TF with the older pre-war BBs lags a bit and won't be ready to sail until tomorrow. Alabama and Indiana are detailed to another TF and given an aggressive commander. They'll make 4 hexes distance tomorrow towards the NW (the location of the Japanese SCTF).

Several Dauntless DB squadrons are present at Eniwetok and will make their presence known if the Japanese venture too close.

In the middle of nowhere: The main Allied CVTFs strike force took the turn to refuel in the middle of the Philippine Sea. I don't love the idea of refueling thirsty DDs in 'enemy' territory like this, but I'd rather do it on my own terms with a semblance of coordination than have TFs drop behind at an inopportune moment.

It's unlikely that the Japanese will assume that the CVs will be stationary this turn. An interdiction attempt would put the Japanese off course. In any case, if the Japanese want a surface fight, The Iowa and New Jersey will have to earn their keep.

Guam reinforced: The runway and air staging areas at Guam are still moderately damaged. However, I need LBA in the region, and I need it now. 3 USMC Corsair squadrons and 3 Dauntless DB squadrons fly over from Eniwetok. They are ordered to naval attack with the Corsairs escorting. 1 Corsair squadron is ordered to sweep Saipan, which has some 50 fighters on station. Time to whittle 'em down a bit.

I also order a recon squadron of F-5s to the island. These squadrons complement the naval patrol aircraft already at Guam. I'll have to stage in other aircraft to Guam, as the distance is too great for some USAAF P-47s, for example.

IJN June 27 update

A few days have passed since I've updated the IJN status of this mirror game.

It's been slow the last few days. I think there were two-count 'em-two combat actions for the combat report on the 26th. There have only been two major changes for today:

1. The number of ships in port at Pagan continues to mushroom. It's at 200+ ships now. Another visible TF is enroute to Pagan-taking a wide berth north.

2. My CV and SCTF TFs have been spotted South of the Marianas. He's moving his combined carrier fleet SW to intercept.

Joining the battle with HIJMS Combined Fleet:

Why here, why now?

I asked myself that question several times. The Japanese have been fortunate thus far. Incredibly, the airfields of Saipan, Guam and Tinian are serviceable for Japanese aircraft at this late stage of the campaign! Providence such as this cannot be overlooked! Clearly, the Gods of War are with us!

Allied LBA from the (overstacked) Pagan field will have no bearing on this fight, they're too far North. You can bet that when the time comes to attack Saipan that the Allied fighters will be flying LRCAP nonstop, thus making air attack on the transport shipping problematic if not impossible. If the Allied carriers were still intact, they'd be offshore 1-2 hexes (yawn) letting their superfluous CAP overlap Saipan, making the situation impossible. By attacking here and now, I (for sure) mitigate the impact of Allied LBA on this battle and (possibly) reduce the role of carrier-borne cover during the invasion sequence(s).

My IJNAF LBA numbers have been plumped up considerably. Dribs and drabs of replacement or reinforcements that have arrived over the last 45 days have made a difference in quality and quantity. If I can apply sufficient numbers to this problem (his 'naked' carrier TFs), now's the time to apply it.

He's moving into a delightful "sweet spot", abreast the Marianas, within easy carrier range. I should be able to get off an attack from four air angles and a surface angle too.

The Allies are likely to brute force their way to the SW, rather than due South. The primary Allied concern now is to keep his carriers between my (spotted) force and the tender Amphibious craft around Pagan. Even if he thinks I'm going towards Truk to make the break into the open sea "behind" him, he can't afford to move his carriers to the SE-it would open up too much sea space between his carriers and their charges.

A likely course for the Allied CVTF will be within surface intercept range. Darn risky, I know, but it's worth a shot. I dispatch a 3 BB, 2 CA, CL and 5 DD TF at full speed with orders to intercept, maximum reaction. This is swinging for the fences, I know. I'd rather go out this way-having my surface combatants shredded in a surface combat TF than by getting picked apart whilest providing a target in a carrier TF. This way is much more 'Japanese'. [:D]

Every now and then one hits a home run too. A well-stocked IJN surface intercept of an Allied carrier force, particuarly at night, would be a dream come true. A story for the ages. It's OK to dream, isn't it?

The practical side of me wants to preserve some semblance of strength if this attack doesn't pan out tomorrow. I dispatch a reinforced battle group, centered around BB Yamato and Mushashi back to Babeldoab. Their guns would still be useful against a landing. I'll keep them as my 'ace in the hole' for a naval attack against a landing site.

I order all IJNAF LBA units to the airfields of Saipan, Tinian and Guam, the latter two with most of the attack aircraft available. I've got to make all hits count, so I keep the attack aircraft (Judys, Jills, Bettys, etc.) at a range of either 6 or 7, depending on their payload. The B6N2 Jills could engage out to 10 hexes with a torpedo (!), but they'd be the only attackers able to range that far. They'd be singled out and shredded against a CAP which must be in excess of 300.

I order all remaining CVs to a point indicated on the map. I've stripped the CVTFs of all heavy surface combatants and left them with only a few escort DDs. Why? I'd rather the CAs and BBs be used offensively. Against a superior force, a BB or CA escort will not provide much AAA help for the carriers anyways, likely being just another target. In this case, just another target that never gets to fire its big guns in anger.

All told, some 787 IJNAF combat aircraft will greet the Allied carriers near the Marianas.

The accountant side of me-the one that wants to win this mirror game on points-realizes this is a dumb move. The smart move would be to dump all of the carrier aircraft at Truk or distributed amongst the Marianas, take the carriers and flee to the corners of the map. There, I would hope that I can 'run out the clock' against his searching carrier hunters. Maybe disband them in port altogether to ensure that a lucky Allied SS doesn't take another chunk out of one.

I do want to win this game, so I did grapple with this approach for some time. This attack is a massive roll of the dice on my part. If I lose my carriers, I'll be essentially where he is as the Japanese in our other game. I'll have given up my points advantage that I should be clinging to. Losing several hundred combat aircraft in this manner may also bode poorly for my points total(s). But if I should connect on this 'haymaker'....Well, that's why we play the game.

'nuff said. Once more into the breach! BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!

I think the map with my crayon markings updates the situation well enough.

Many sharp little knife fights with small unit actions across the map. Allied DDs accord themselves very well. Most of the Allied DDs are Fletcher class ships-man are they nice! They've got the punch of a CL, some armor, speed, ASW and AAA. What's not to like?

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

I think the map with my crayon markings updates the situation well enough.

Many sharp little knife fights with small unit actions across the map. Allied DDs accord themselves very well. Most of the Allied DDs are Fletcher class ships-man are they nice! They've got the punch of a CL, some armor, speed, ASW and AAA. What's not to like?

More endurance would be nice.

IJN June 28 update:

Every time I think I have my opponent or this game figured out, I realize that I'm still learning. A lot. Today was one such example:

First, the minor stuff:

Minisub massacre: Two Allied ASW TFs park in the Saipan hex and beat up my minisubs. five are lost this turn. One of the minisubs takes a shot at BB Iowa and (of course) misses. It's forced to the surface and sunk by the angry battleship. This makes two submarines sunk by battleships in this game. [:D]

now the big game...


The clash that never was: Allied carriers continued SSE towards Truk / Eniwetok. At the end of the turn, they were 8 hexes distant from my carriers. My carriers were under heavy cloud for both phases of the turn and unspotted / unattacked. Probably just as well, as his SSE movement was out of range of the Marianas-based LBA. A carrier to carrier exchange without that support would have been at a Japanese disadvantage.

The carriers were set to follow a DD ASW group. The ASW group was found 1 hex to the N of my carriers and demolished by Allied carrier air. 4 DDs were either sunk or mauled. Survivors are limping back towards Guam, but are unlikely to make it intact.

CAP 'spillover' from my CVTFs causes some pain to his Avenger torpedo aircraft in particular, as A6M5s break through the strike package escort and maul one of the packets.

The strike that was: Marianas-based LBA launched en masse against ships in TF at Pagan. They fly into the expected LBA bandsaw of P47s and Corsairs. Japanese losses were heavy. All told, some 230 Japanese aircraft are lost today in A2A combat (300+ total) versus 30 some-odd for the Allies-most of these from the CAP spillover over the ASW TF (above).

Many of the torpedo bombers get through the CAP and get in an attack run. Silver lining on the gray cloud is two torpedoes in BB South Dakota and AM Kingfisher sunk.

Below is one of several attacks. This is one of the two torpedoes in South Dakota:

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jun 27, 44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Pagan at 110,89

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 56 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
A6M2 Sen Baku x 21
A6M5 Zero x 121
B6N2 Jill x 2
G4M1 Betty x 25



Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 20
F4U-1 Corsair x 76


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
A6M2 Sen Baku: 7 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 28 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 12 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB North Carolina
AM Kingfisher, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
BB South Dakota, Torpedo hits 1
BB Iowa
AM Penguin



Avengers mauled:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Rota at 110,100

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 36 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Sen Baku x 10
A6M5 Zero x 15



Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 33
TBM-1C Avenger x 17


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Sen Baku: 1 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
TBM-1C Avenger: 7 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hibiki, heavy fires



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x TBM-1C Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo


Another batch attacking Pagan. Torpedo #2 for BB South Dakota:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Pagan at 110,89

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 48 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
A6M2 Sen Baku x 4
A6M5 Zero x 58
B6N1 Jill x 6
B6N2 Jill x 4
G4M2 Betty x 11
G4M2a Betty x 3
P1Y1 Frances x 12



Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 16
F4U-1 Corsair x 54


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
A6M2 Sen Baku: 2 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 22 destroyed
B6N1 Jill: 1 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 4 damaged
G4M2 Betty: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
P1Y1 Frances: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB South Dakota, Torpedo hits 1
DD Crane
LCI-587
AM Oracle
AM Penguin
BB Iowa
BB Indiana
BB North Carolina


What now?: Japanese heavy surface forces and CVs make their way to the NW-away from Allied carriers. I manuever the CVTFs to a point 6 hexes SW of Saipan. If the Allies park any more AMs or ASW in the hex next turn, the CV strikes ought to make 'em pay.

A Japanese heavy surface force will take a position along with the CVTF. If an invasion is underway tomorrow, they will be in a fine position to intercept. I may consider a night time bombardment intercept run regardless.

The BB SCTF built around the Mushashi and Yamato is moving WNW towards Babeldoab. It will refuel there pending other options.

Allied carriers *should* be out of range for next turn at least, maybe two turns if their movement takes them towards Eniwetok for refueling.

I order all (surviving) Marianas combat aircraft to naval attack-but reduce their range. Aircraft at Saipan will only attack shipping in the Saipan hex. Aircraft at Guam will be set with sufficient range to attack shipping at Saipan, not enough to fly into the buzzsaw at Pagan. Same with Tinian.

With LBA shredded, it's too late in the game to completely repair / regroup the airgroups. The only credible air attack comes from my carrier-based aircraft at this time. As it stands, they are no match for the might of the massed Allied carrier fleet.

I'm leaning towards unloading the carrier airwings on the Marianas and fleeing to the map corners with the carriers themselves. Points preservation at least. Minus their air wings, they are more a liability than an asset in many ways.

We'll see how tomorrow goes.

That higher screen resolution is really something, I may have to look at upgrading my monitor. Ah heck, why not just upgrade the laptop as well! [:D]

Any quick pointers on how to draw 'standardized' pointers on the chart? I'm only familiar with the most basic 'paint' functions. Your maps are always much nicer, Sqz, so I'd appreciate any pointers you may have. [&o]

Chickenboy,

I convert the jpeg to an adobe pdf then do all my stuff in adobe. Then take a screenshot of that and open in paint to save as a jpeg again. It's all the software I have and I'm sure there's a simpler process, but it's what I've gotten used to. The only bad thing is the multiple conversions lose the sharpness of the image. Yours is much clearer than I can get mine. Plus, I try and hide faulty strategy with lots of arrows and text boxes! [:D]

Both turns reside with the Cap'n. He 'worked' last night or some such pathetic excuse for not playing computer games.

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Any quick pointers on how to draw 'standardized' pointers on the chart? I'm only familiar with the most basic 'paint' functions. Your maps are always much nicer, Sqz, so I'd appreciate any pointers you may have. [&o]

Paint.net

Find it at "getpaint.net" it's free.

Windows 7?

Yes, it works on Windows 7. It's nice. Worth the effort to learn. Grain of salt: I use Photoshop since I have it being an amateur photog, but Paint.net works very similarly.