Here come the Rebels! (Canoe v. Q-Ball)

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

12/6/42

Oz: Brad just discovered the presence of Allied troops at Daly Waters, per his email. It only took him about four weeks or so, an indication of the attention he's not giving the game.

Another modest proposal (non-Swiftian here, I mean it literally) that might lessen the teeth-gnashing over this game.

Now that you have what looks to be a potential barn-burner with Steve, a game which I think will test you and require a lot of time, might you suggest to Q not ending this game, but rather suspending it in place? You've said you don't want a new opponent here, and he's deep, and I mean deep, into beta-testing patches and debating 1941 -42 game mechanics Over There. I think he'll come back to AE at some point, but as you say, right now you're getting half of his mind-space or less, and this game is at a tipping point.

You could volunteer to put this on the shelf with passwords taped to the box, wish him good luck on the steppes, and play Steve with everything you have. In six or eight months Q could come back refreshed and really take up his duties here. To give this proposal some heft, assign a date certain where you two will meet on-line and consider continuing. I'd miss The Thread Lite, but such is life. Q may be really hoping you offer, but too proud to suggest it given that he's the one who decamped.

From the cheap seats this one looks as if it's causing you more aggro than enjoyment. And, reading both AARs in the other game, you're going to need a seat belt!

[LoBaron]

Canorebel, I think The Moose is making a good point.

This is a great game you two are playing. You should not feel forced to rob yourself of the satisfaction
of a great victory, just because your opponents brain is occupied with something else.
And winning because the other side is not paying attention is not satisfying.

You both invested too much of your skill to let it degrade.

[Canoerebel]

Good suggestion, gents. I'll approach Brad with the offer, trying to couch it in terms that will let him off the hook without any sense of shame attaching. I want the game to continue, but not if he's not paying attention. A sabbatical might be just what the doctor ordered.

[obvert]

I hope it does resume. I am curious about the Sumatra invasion, and also think Japan is not as badly placed as it may seem. An intact Navy can go a long way toward equalizing the affair for a few years.

[Canoerebel]

Japan is in very good shape in this game. The weird thing is that the Allies are too. Neither side has really been bruised, with the exception of Allied battleships (clobbered at Pearl Harbor and Force Z) and Japanese infantry divisions (which I'm sure Brad will quickly and easily rebuild.

If Brad does accept the offer, I feel pretty sure he'll come back eventually, as Bullwinkle suggested.

[anarchyintheuk]

ORIGINAL: paullus99

Minor quibble - the Army of Northern Virginia didn't officially come into being until Lee took over & reorganized the command after the 7 Days.

Think this was directed at me. Was referring to the Army of Northeastern Virginia, the McDowell led predecessor of the AoP formed by the idiot McClellan. Probably should have referred to it as ANEV to avoid confusion.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

Canorebel, I think The Moose is making a good point.

This is a great game you two are playing. You should not feel forced to rob yourself of the satisfaction
of a great victory, just because your opponents brain is occupied with something else.
And winning because the other side is not paying attention is not satisfying.

You both invested too much of your skill to let it degrade.

My unique commentary on this matter is reduced to "ditto" what LoBaron and the Bull have stated. [;)]

[Canoerebel]

Here's the email I sent to Brad this a.m.:

"Given what's going on with WitE at the moment, would you prefer to take a sabbatical from our game for some determined amount of time? We could do it for a month or two, with the idea we then reconvene to discuss resuming the game.

"I am not asking you to do this. My preference is to continue the game. But I don't want you to force things if you're just not able to give the game what you need to give it at the moment.

"So, I wanted to make the offer without appearing to be requesting a sabbatical. Either way is fine with me."

I haven't heard back from him yet.

[anarchyintheuk]

Hope for the best. I'd hate to have to turn your aar with Chez into another ersatz thread. [;)]

[Oliver Heindorf]

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

Hope for the best. I'd hate to have to turn your aar with Chez into another ersatz thread. [;)]

Bitte nicht !

[Capt. Harlock]

It was under his leadership that the Lincoln conspirators were tried. It was under his leadership that Henry Wirz, the commandant of Andersonville Prison was tried. He letter to Andrew Johnson after the Wirz trial was a scathing indictment of that Confederate officer, and based upon my recent research it appears that Holt was completely wrong. My article "No Darker Field of Crime" about Wirz's trial was just published this week.

Where can we find the article? It looks very interesting, especially considering that a Robert Redford-directed movie about about the prosecution of the Lincoln "conspirators" is about to be released.

[Canoerebel]

I have the article in pdf format. I'll be glad to email to anybody who sends me their email address via PM (or however you wish to do so). Cpt. Harlock, I'll check your profile to see if your PM is listed.

The article "No Darker Field of Crime" appears in the Spring 2011 issue of Georgia Backroads magazine, hot off the press this week. During the proofing process, the article was reviewed by a historian in California. After reading it and then following through with the source information, he told me that he had changed his mind about Henry Wirz's culpability for Andersonville. It's a fascinating story.

[Canoerebel]

12/7/42

Brad declined the offer of a sabbatical, which surprised me a bit. He says his interest in the game is on the increase. So, as we celebrate the one-year anniversary of his attack on Pearl Harbor, the game shall continue.

Daly Waters: The Japanese bombard, thus revealing their strength as 8th Tanks, 33rd Infantry Regiment, and 146th Infantry Regiment. That's 300+ AV facing about 350 Allied AV. Too strong for either of us to dislodge the other, methinks, though I have more troops on the way.

Exmouth: Carriers and transports will swing wide of the SW Oz cape over the next two or three days. I am pretty nervous about this operation, for some reason. I have three picket ships NW of Perth. Then will proceed futher north as D-Day approaches.

India: The Alllies will take vacant Koggala on the Ceylon's eastern tip by para-assault tomorrow. If successful, the Ceylon "invaders" can land there to move on Colombo and Trincomalee. That move will take place by the end of the month, I think. The Allied army besieiging Calcutta will try a shock attack tomorrow.

[obvert]

Good news. Two of your AARs still in full swing. And this means we'll see some fireworks very soon!

[Smeulders]

Might be a bit late, but as you are having supply problems in India you might want to try the following.

Supply moves between bases more or less often based on the distance and the sort of hexes/roads between the two bases. The further, the less often supplies will move. Now, if there is a large distance between your supply depots and you spearhead, supplies will move only occasionally, leading to supply problems. What I would try is to make the supplies move smoother. Increase supply required at intermediate bases starting from the ones closest to the depots and moving further out. As these intermediate depots are built up, the distance from your spearhead to supplies decreases, meaning supplies will move more often. The intermediate bases will get resupplied from the depot in the same turn, if they are close enough. For example.

Depot ------------------------> Spearhead: long distance, supplies move only occasionally, let's say once a week.
Depot --------->A------------> Spearhead: we increased supply required at A, now supplies can move from A to the spearhead. This would lead to too few supplies in A, but if the distances are about equal A gets resupplied from the depot in the same turn, so A will give it's supply away.

If my understanding of the supply mechanics is correct this should lead to a better supply situation for your front line units.

[Canoerebel]

12/8/42 and 12/9/42

Calcutta: Allied shock attack on the 8th dropped forts to one and did relatively equal and light damage to both sides. After resting the troops on the 9th, they'll try again tomorrow. I expect Calcutta to fall within a week, which will leave Japane with the Ledo to Imphal bases plus Colombo and Trincomalee.

India: Smeulders, thanks for the advice. I have tried to draw suppy forward step by step. I have some decent levels at Mangalore and Bangalore, but can't get it to draw to Madras and Trivandrum. I'll keep trying (and I have a few small cargo ships at or nearing Trivandrum). I do expect the Allies to control all of India (plus probably North Male Island and Addu Atoll) by the end of 1942.

Daly Waters: An Allied recon armor unit is one hex from Katherine and shows now enemy troops there. That strikes me as odd. Neither side is attacking at Daly Waters, where both sides have 350+ AV. Both sides may be tighter on supply than they want the other side to know. Another 350 AV Allied troops are perhaps 10 days away.

Exmouth: The troop transports and carriers are west of the Oz's SW cape and turn north tomorrow. I've swapped out a Lightning recon unit for the PBY's that have been reconning Exmouth for months now. I'm hoping Brad won't catch the sudden change in plane type. I'm also going to hit Exmouth with B-24s tomorrow - I need to know if Brad is there in force, even though I don't want to raise his concern level, because I only have two Aussie brigades available. I don't want to land if Brad has a Naval Guard unit or more.

[desicat]

Reading Q-Balls WITE AAR I get the impression that the bloom is off the rose and you can expect to see him have more interest in the game at hand. I am very interested to see how the Sumatra invasion goes so lets hope things pick up.

[Wild]

Since Q-Ball has just joined a WITE tournament, i wouldn't say the rose has wilted yet.

Canoerebel, this has been a wonderful AAR. I too hope your opponent returns to give his all to this great match-up.


Edit sp.

[Canoerebel]

12/10/42

India: Allied shock attack at Calcutta comes off at 1:1, drops forts to zero, inflicts slight damage (though heavier on Japan - seven squads destroyed to one for the Allies), and results in low disruption to Allied units. I'm going to rest my guys for one day, then shock attack on the 12th. Unless I'm missing something, the base should change hands. This will be a major psychological boost for the Allies. I remember the bad ol' day when I was retreating in the face of an onslaught; Q-Ball wrote in an email something like "Leaving so soon?" It was galling to be getting pushed like that. I'm glad it's late 1942.

Daly Waters: Another hexside should get closed tomorrow, leaving the enemy garrison with just one through which to retreat (and it will close in about three to five days). An armored recon unit should enter Katherine, which seems vacant, tomorrow. That means the base, if it remains vacant, would change hands on the 12th. In addition, the Allied reinforcements from Alice Springs will be reaching Daly Waters over the next week to two weeks. At that point, the Allies will have decisions: attack at Daly; move on Darwin; or move down the interior roads towards Derby, etc. Not sure yet, but I do feel like this move, in conjunction with the impending Allied invasion of Exmouth, should have Brad focusing on a growing Allied threat to NW Oz and Timor. And that's just what I want.

Exmouth: Nothing's going wrong here, but for reasons I can't quite put my finger on I am ill at ease with this invasion. I have three picket ships heading north and the carriers and amphbious TFs are a bit north of Perth now. It's a bit of a journey from there to Exmouth, but D-Day is probably four to five days away. But I just don't have a good feeling about things. I"m trying to figure out whether I need to play my hunch or whether this is pre-invasion jitters that I need to ignore.

[Canoerebel]

12/11/42

India: The Allies will shock attack at Calcutta tomorrow. I am optimistic, but not positve, that the base will change hands.

Daly Waters: Not quite sure what Brad is thinking up this way. With three good IJA units (350 AV) isolated at Daly Waters, he may not be too anxious to attack or defend vigorously short of Darwin, which would suit me. Katherine is vacant and will fall to the Allies tomorrow. Darwin has at least a regiment, though I think the defense is more like a regiment and a brigade. Over at Daly Waters, the Allies will close the last hexside in two days, with the bulk of the reinforcements arriving in about a week or so. At that point, I think the Allies will try to take Daly. If my 700 +/- AV takes too long on the job, though, it will embolden Brad to perhaps reinforce and fight (right now he doesn't know how much I have). So the stakes are pretty high.

Exmouth: I remain unaccountably very nervous about this operation. The carriers are just west of Geraldton, the invasion TFs are just west of Perth and will leapfrog the carriers tomorrow or the day after, and the picket ships are well to the west of Exmouth. D-Day is probably four or five days off. I think Exmouth has a Naval Guard unit and a small base force. Do the Allies have enough in two Aussie brigades or do I need to scrub the mission for now? I dunno.