The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[waihi]

ORIGINAL: JeffroK

Seeing so many have fled and crossed the ditch I thought you envied us.

Some of the flag options were excellent, problem in changes like that is that there must be 1 overpowering option, otherwise they dilute the vote.

Did you cop any of the Cyclone overflow, I'm headed there in 20 days (I can give the days/hours countdown)and regularly check my accomodation hasnt been shaken down or washed away.

Been travelling on way back currently, have been told not too much damage at home. You should be good to go, have a good visit.

[Capt. Harlock]

Is this just a matter of dice or is there something about "new" targets that makes a hit more powerful? I suspect it's just the dice, but man, yesterday's huge raid vs. Osaka scored just 200 points and today's scored more than 700. You'll have to take my word for it that this was a disproportionate result.

For whatever my $0.02 is worth, I think that there is coding to make "new" targets give better results. It makes a fair amount of sense: after an airstrike or shelling, the defenders will naturally attempt to harden the target. Sandbags, fire buckets, tape over the windows, etc.

[Canoerebel]

5/11/45

Indian Ocean: Because it's what inveterate raiders do.

John slipped a carrier force past Addu to near India. I had no idea there was anything out here - none at all - until suddenly enemy search planes find a RN CVE parked at Addu. It'd been there for weeks - diverted from it's original objective of Colombo when an enemy wolfpack infested those waters weeks ago. I'd forgotten all about the CVE and hadn't looked at Addu probably since I issued the order to re-route back in mid April.

There are two other RN CVEs at Colombo, recently arrived, and a third at Aden, which remained there due to uncertainty over what was going on.

Back in late April, after his Ceylon raid, John pulled KB South back to Sumatra. I don't know if he left this carrier behind, slipped another forward in intervening weeks, or what. I usually have a feel for what's where. I was a bit concerned about RN Death Star, which had been covering ships unloading at Victoria Point, and ordered that TF to detach and head for safety at Rangoon. But my concern was the possibility John might slip a KB into the Gulf of Siam and attack across the peninsula.

Funny and fitting to be utterly surprised near the end of all things.

[Canoerebel]

5/11/45

Raid on Hirosoki/Aomorai: Testing Capt. Harlock's theory, a modest number of 4EB targeted this base for the first time, scoring decent hits. I'll check to see how much damage was done. Escorting long-range fighters from Korea provided escort.

The day's main raid was vs. Gifu aircraft engine factories. The bombers encountered minimal CAP, which sweeps and escorts handled.

The tertiary target was Hammamatsu (another "virgin" target that took heavy hits today).

The quaternary targets were Kumamoto and Fukyama in southern Japan, which had no CAP.

[Canoerebel]

5/11/45

Raid on CenPac: It's what he does. This (mostly) unexpected raid catches a picket YMS patrolling NW of Midway.

John's previous CenPac raid force had retired to Marcus a week ago before I lost track of it. I kept looking for it via recon over Yokahama, Tokyo and other likely ports, but it never showed up. I had no info he had moved it east again, but I was concerned. I had detached a CL/DD force from Pearl a week ago, with the idea of a possible surface raid starting from Midway. I held the TF there four or five turns due to lack of information about KB's location.

They'll retire to Johnston Island post haste.

[Canoerebel]

5/11/45

Battle of Peiping: This key city falls on opening Allied attack, a mix of shock and deliberate assaults. The enemy defenders weren't mussed up badly but overwhelming weight of numbers made the difference.

This base is worth alot of points when built out and should provide enough for auto victory, even if strategic bombing gets tougher.

This is only about 40% of the Allied army on the move in this region. I think this Land Death Star can go wherever it wants, conquering the balance of Asia as quickly as road movement permits. That will allow the Western Army in Korea to relax a bit, finish up Fusan, and prep for Japan proper.

Worries that the Chinese contingent, shock attacking across river, would take heavy losses didn't come to pass.

[Canoerebel]

5/11/45

Auto Victory: As the movie continued to play, scrolling through various routine messages, suddenly there was a sounding of trumpets (not loud, not magnificent, but rather lame) accompanying the display of this screen, which is rather magnificent after 3.5 years of war and 5.25 years of real life.

[Canoerebel]

So I clicked the "View End Game Stats" button and the screen disappeared and to open the file I have to enter John's password, which I don't have. Which means I have to watch the entire turn again and then click "Quit Game," I guess, in order to view the next turn map and see what happened and why AV occurred. I guess the strong bombings today did most of the work needed, as it would take a turn or two for supply to come to Peiping to provide significant points for that key base.

[Canoerebel]

Message to John III:

Well, well. Here we are at the end of all things.

That was unexpected. The turn was wrapping up. The screen was scrolling through the usual messages. Suddenly there was the rather lame sound of trumpets. And then the AV screen popped up.

I clicked the "View End of Game Stats" button and the file closed out. So I'm unable to view the next turn file to see what's going on where.

We haven't discussed AV lately, but I would guess that Japan is ready to surrender? I'm glad to continue on if you want to see what would happen over the next few months, although there may not be a great deal of purpose in it. Japan still has a navy and an air force, but Asia is a disaster and the ability to bomb from nearby Korea is just a death grip.

If you want to continue on, say the word. If not, my password is Coral42.

Send me your password if this is the end, but hold onto it if you want to continue a bit further.

Much more to say later. Bottom line: Thanks for soldiering on gamely until the very, very end. Many/most would have quit long ago. Others might've been tempted to get silly or negligent at the end on the idea of "what's the use." But here at the end, KB is raiding and weird TFs are bombarding Singapore and massive CAPs appear over Osaka and surface clashes take place and I always know that you're paying the game the homage of taking it completely seriously right up until the moment that lame trumpets sound. You are a trooper.

[CaptBeefheart]

Congratulations!

Cheers,
CC

[Canoerebel]

John had sent this message with his email, so I wondered if the end was nigh (darn it, the guy cannot keep himself from tipping off turns):

Allied Intel detects a HUGE amount of coded transmissions coming from Tokyo starting on May 10th.

All the huge fans of Tokyo Rose begin complaining that the damned Air Corps must have hit the Radio Station because, with no warning, she drops off the air at 1415 hours local Tokyo time. The radio station has not transmitted since then. The Air Corps, immediately denies bombing the station. HECK it has never stuck Tokyo—EVER!

He's wrong about Tokyo. Superforts hit it early and hard, doing considerable damage to Heavy Industry and Light Industry, with lesser damage to some other targets.

[panzer cat]

Congratulations from a 5 year lurker.

[jwolf]

YES!! I picked the correct end game date. John had a pool going in his AAR. [:)]

Congratulations to both of you for a great game and super pair of AARs.

BTW it's a real tribute to your playing ability that you got a victory earlier than historical in spite of the really souped up Japanese forces in this mod.

[FlyByKnight]

Congratulations on your success, Canoe.

[Canoerebel]

Thanks, gentlemen. Thanks for reading or lurking, thanks for chiming in or helping or reproofing. I posted at more length a few days back to express my gratitude for you guys. I'll post more, probably as I read back through my AAR or when I read John's.

jwolf, congrats on winning the pool. You, like Carnak, are a soothsayer without peer! John III was only off by a day.

I never made a prediction as the likely date of victory, although I noted as early as November '44 that if the scoring trend continued, the likely date of victory was "late April or early May." I thought there was a chance it could be considerably earlier (perhaps as early as February) if I ever managed to tap into the "thousand points a day" strategic bombing recipe I'd heard about or if John banzaiid his fleet.

The rate of scoring continued pretty much the dame until mid February, when supply in Asia ran low, forcing the 4EB to stand down while Death Star went to the DEI to retrieve and escort the next shipment. When DS returned with all that supply, the air war kicked into overdrive (Operation Unicycle) and finished the war in about 40 days of intense bombing.

[BillBrown]

Now what will I read every day? [&:]

[DW]

Congratulations, Canoe.

From the dashed hopes of Sumatra to your crushing victories, it was a hell of a ride.

I typically only follow one game at a time, and I've been following this one for ages.

Does anyone have a recommendation on who else has a really interesting game going on?

[Canoerebel]

It's hard for me to follow multiple games, too, DW.

Right now, Obvert vs. Lowpe has to be the "go to" game. Weird stuff going on as two exceptional players duke it out.

[Canoerebel]

I'm afraid it's going to be very hard to come off the high of playing the game. Pretty much every day, I could count on an intense injection of fun (endorphins? adrenaline?) as a new turn arrived. First I'd view the written combat report. Then I'd watch the replay. Then I'd begin entering orders, always following the same general routine as I worked my way around the map. Turns often took three to six hours. None of that was gazing - all of it was clicking. Going through Death Star and land-based air to attend to all the details for the day was overwhelmingly time-consuming and often not very much fun.

But over the past year, as the Allies gained so much power and achieved the position from which to engage in serious raids, missions and attacks every day - lots and lots of them everywhere - the excitement and sense of fulfillment was intense. I was experiencing the rare thrill of seeing to fruition a plan set in motion in late 1942. Every turn - from receipt in the inbox to return through the outbox promised hours and hours of fun.

Suddenly that's gone from each day. No longer can I wake up and expect at some point during the day to have something that fun to look forward to.

It's going to be a real adjustment. Partly, my game with Erik will begin to assert priority and contribute that much fun, but early on I'm likely to spend alot more time outdoors, running, hiking and mountain biking. March, April and May in Georgia are (usually) superb months for outdoors activities. And I'll continue to read, which has always been my main source of relaxation.

I don't think I'll consider starting another game anytime soon. I need this to settle. I want to take some time to adjust to a more non-game routine to measure it against the intense game routine. IE, I'll be doing what Bullwinkle expressed not long ago in another thread, where he noted he'd celebrated a landmark birthday and just needed time to prioritize life.

This game? Crack. Cocaine. Fun. Challenging. Exciting.

Best game ever.

[Lovejoy]

Well done!