Intellectus Ex Nihilo (Wal-Mart on Ice)

[ChuckBerger]

You didn't utterly destroy his carriers, but you did utterly destroy his carrier force. Congrats!

[Canoerebel]

The posted results are true, non-sync-bug info.

I do think he lost CV Unryu and three CVLs. A few others are damaged enough to join Zuikaku and Soryu in the yards (Zuikaku ought to be ready soon).

[Capt. Harlock]

ORIGINAL: ChuckBerger

You didn't utterly destroy his carriers, but you did utterly destroy his carrier force. Congrats!

+1

I don't see either the IJN or IJA air arms ever fully recovering from those losses. Especially since I think his airframe production may be feeling a resource pinch.

[HansBolter]

The lack of any penetrating leakers was amazing.

Even with a DS cap of 1500+ fighters I always seems to have leakers penetrating my buzzsaw CAP and getting hits.

[Canoerebel]

That's been my experience too.

[Canoerebel]

11/1/44

Malestrom in the South China Sea: I couldn't fit all the action on this graphic, but this covers most of the more important clashes.

The enemy air threat has diminished to manageable levels, I think, but there's a lot of uncertainty about sending DS & The Herd forward into enemy-choked waters. Nevertheless it must be done. DS has a ton of combat TFs and most of them haven't engaged in fighting, yet.

[Canoerebel]

11/2/44

Malestrom in the South China Sea: Much less activity today. In addition to things noted on the graphic, a USN sub sank an IJN DD near Groot Natoena. DS & The Herd finally make some progress. Weather permitting, B-29s will begin targeting Saigon next turn.

[Canoerebel]

11/3/44

Invasion of Kota Bharu: DS continued NWesterly without incident. It will slow down to allow search missions to look for signs of all the cruisers and destroyers that were recently in this area. I don't want those nasties to get in amongst the mass of assault shipping present on this excursion.

[Canoerebel]

11/4/44

Invasion of Kota Bharu: Enemy combat TFs swirl around DS, including dangerous cruisers. The Allies get in some good licks. I want another turn or two to clear the zone before sending the invasion ships forward. There are scores of AKA, AK, APA, and AP, and when D-Day arrives they'll be under the umbrella only of a single CVE TF and a bunch of patrolling combat TFs, while DS takes station a hex away, between Kota and the most dangerous proximate enemy airfield (probably Saigon and Bangkok).

[Canoerebel]

11/5/44

Invasion of Kota Bharu: The enemy menace declines markedly today, sufficiently so that D-Day at Kota will take place on the morrow. Dave can re-inject combat TFs into the fray (the subs will be here no matter what), but I think he's temporarily expended his wad.

[Canoerebel]

11/6/44

D-Day, Kota Bharu: Things go really well. All units fully ashore with plentiful supply and in overwhelming numbers against a meager enemy garrison.

Kota should fall tomorrow, at which time the transports carrying the Singapore-prepped troops will unload. That army will campaign to the south. The Kota army will move a bit north, to cut the peninsula in two and to at least sniff out and pose a threat to the Bangkok region.

Movement dots popped up at Rangoon and Pegu today. If Dave evacuates those two bases, all the better.

[jwolf]

You and Dave are flipping turns so fast I don't even have time to wonder what will happen because it already did! The pace is almost dizzying for me as a spectator and I can't imagine how intense it is for you as a player.

[Canoerebel]

Those turns were split between yesterday and today, so I wasn't posting much yesterday. Still, the pace is pretty dizzying. It's okay for me, because I have a pretty good system down, have my ducks lined up in a way that makes orderly treatment easy, and it's that point in the game in which the Allies can roll.

I don't know how it is for Dave. There are little things that I wonder about. He's very experienced and he does a lot of things very well - like chasing down Lex, against all odds, and throwing KB at me when I'm not quite expecting it, and building very strong bases deep. It's late '44 and here I am nowhere close to the Home Islands (but that's for a reason that I think will work out nicely in the end). But I wonder if he's aware of that carrier ops are halved in base hexes; he doesn't seem to use nav search and recon efficiently to monitor what I'm doing and to get enough info to build an accurate picture; and he doesn't rail transport aircraft around. Little things like that make me wonder if he's flipping too fast or perhaps unaware of some things.

But the rip-roaring pace is really fun and he's a great guy to play against - as easygoing, considerate and polite as he could possibly be.

[waihi]

How many aircraft has Dave lost in the last month? Been hard to keep track of. Must have consequences over the end game

[Canoerebel]

He's lost 4,000 aircraft from Sept. 24 to Nov. 9* - about six weeks. In four years of war, he's lost 20,400 aircraft total and 20% of them in this six-weeks.

*I'm a few days behind in posting.

[Canoerebel]

11/7/44 to 11/9/44

Kota Baru: Without any real opposition, Allies take the base, the Singers units come ashore, and the Allied army is well on its way inland to interdict the second railroad.

Over the next two days, a relatively complicated effort to bring in additional units expeditiously. I think I've hit on a way to do this more quickly, though it does count on TFs following relatively intricate follow and rendezvous orders. But I think Dave has most of his strike aircraft standing down out of concern for DS CAP problems. He's lost a lot of aircraft.

Once the reinforcement convoy reaches Kota, LBA CAP and combat TFs will handle security, freeing DS & The Empties to retire to Soerabaja. It's time for The Non-Linear option. Waiting at Soerabaja are ten additional carriers - three USN CV, two USN CVL, one RN CV, one RN CVL and a few USN CVEs.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

He's lost 4,000 aircraft from Sept. 24 to Nov. 9* - about six weeks. In four years of war, he's lost 20,400 aircraft total and 20% of them in this six-weeks.

*I'm a few days behind in posting.

This is exactly why I do not make grand gestures in trying to hit the DS in late game! [;)]

In a practical sense of opportunity cost, airframe availability and pilot management(and more importantly in a VP sense) it doesn't make sense if you're simply blunting your tools. Especially if it's not slowing the Allies.

There are moments to strike, but they have to be carefully orchestrated, and adding defeat to defeat isn't going to help resolve the issue once the Allies have shown they can brush away the combined striking power of the KB and LBA together.

[Canoerebel]

Yeah, I knew that.

There are different schools of thought and strategy, I'm sure. On the one hand would be the notion of trying hard as early as possible, before the odds get even worse. On the other, don't "banzai!" when it's hopeless.

And there are the gamers vs. the simulators. You and I are gamers. I suspect Dave is a simulator (even if the thought never occurred to him).

Dave's style of play reminds me a lot of how I recall Miller - tenacious, fighting defense, even when it seems or is hopeless.

[Canoerebel]

11/12/44

Malaya Campaign: Allied armor took the key contested hex, bifurcating enemy forces in Malaya. The ended any possibility that Dave had of keeping the roads open in a meaningful way. I'm not sure he realizes the extent of his peril here. He may be playing a vigorous counteroffensive. I hope so.

DS & The Herd: The intricate moves needed to bring in additional troop transports worked with no losses or damage. DS & The Empties are now retiring to Soerabaja. I think they'll only need a few days in port to flip things and proceed with the next amphibious op - The Non-Linear One.

[BBfanboy]

It appears you have taken Nemo's maxim of "play the player" to heart! Your ops have interlocking strategies to make him respond in ways that you want while making him feel he has no choice but to react. The only way out of that loop for the defender is to do what Nemo would do - abandon the units and areas you can't defend and make aggressive, unexpected moves of your own - something like taking the Hawaiian islands while your fleet is all on the other side of the map, or suicidal invasion of Seattle and LA to destroy industry.