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This AAR is on sabbatical while the writer and everybody else is reading GreyJoy's AAR.
 
Should anybody stop by, just leave a note and I'll get right back to you.
 
[:)]
 
P.S.  Just kidding (but that's some mighty entertaining theater going on....)
 
 

True that, brother. [X(]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

This AAR is on sabbatical while the writer and everybody else is reading GreyJoy's AAR.

Should anybody stop by, just leave a note and I'll get right back to you.

[:)]

P.S.  Just kidding (but that's some mighty entertaining theater going on....)

No insult intended Canoerebel .. but "Festung Palembang" is not quite as interesting as the Hurricane that has struck Hokkaido ... Your PJ stunt just does not have the same thrill anymore as the Allies dropping in right next door with 10 divisions for tea ...[8D]

Your just going to have to come up with something to keep with up the "GreyJoy's" [:D]

That island next to Singapore looks inviting, do you any HR for "Unsportsman like play"

I reckon to top Greyjoy you will have to drop a dozen divisions at Yokohama!!

Or, the other option, could be to let Steve crush you in Sumatra...you will see that everybody would come back to your AAR to watch 15 allied divisions getting kicked back into the Indian Ocean by the mighty evil emperor[:D]
 
Just kidding....
 
Anyway do you remember the time when we were racing with equal numbers of posts? ...you fell back my friend[:D][:D][:D]

Ouch!  He rubbed it right in my face! 
 
But you're right - there's something fascinating about watching a shipwreck in progress.  In part, that's what drew readers to your AAR early on.  In a similar way, it drew readers to my game against Q-Ball, when he nearly conquered India, and to my game vs. John III, when he nearly conquered Oz.  There's just something particularly fascinating about disasters.
 
I noticed this in my personal life years ago.  I used to be an avid reader of Sports Illustrated.  I enjoyed the articles about the really good teams, but what really interested me were the articles about the teams for whom the wheels had come off.  Reading about the Yankees was okay, but what I really savored were the articles about teams that were on a pace to lose 110 games. 

If only the Yankees would be on pace to lose 110 games.

An anecdote from my college Roman history class. The ancient Roman equivalent of the editorial pages blasted chariot racing. Why? The crowd only came in hopes of seeing a big chariot crash. It's universal I suppose. [;)]

9/14/42
 
NoPac:  Allied fighters at Para get the best of several small enemy raids.  No sign of an enemy counterinvasion yet, but I'm nearly positive it's coming before winter.
 
CenPac:  Patrol report enemy CV just north of Ndeni heading east.  Arizona is over at Canton Island, so I'll have to be careful.
 
SoPac:  Enemy AV down to 125 at Pago Pago.
 
SWPac:  Things continue to look good at Milne.  No detection, 225 AV ashore, and engineers working steadily on forts, airfield and port.  An Aussie CD unit will board transports at Townsville tonight and make the short hop to Milne.  Still no signs of enemy detection, and I'm hoping that carrier at Ndeni means none will come sniffing around Milne.
 
DEI:  No enemy air raids vs. Padang for the first time in weeks, but Allied fighters there sortie to provide CAP over two small tank units to the west, getting the best of several IJ raids.  At the moment, things are shaping up very nicely in and around Sumatra.
 
Burma:  Nothing has changed.  I anticipate a probing enemy attack at Magwe.

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

If only the Yankees would be on pace to lose 110 games.

An anecdote from my college Roman history class. The ancient Roman equivalent of the editorial pages blasted chariot racing. Why? The crowd only came in hopes of seeing a big chariot crash. It's universal I suppose. [;)]

Cribtop, I might offer a different story line and in the context of Canoerebel's thread ...


I propose the following:

1) Greyjoy's thread is the "County Chess Champion" vs. a character like "Jimmy Stewart" .. just a likeable amiable guy who wants to play a game.

2) The chess champion picks a game where he has more pieces to start because ...well the other guy gets a lot more later ... add to that HR that bonk some of those pieces [No strat bombing below 20K??] . Chess Champion rolls over the Jimmy Stewart charater producing the underdog effect ...more so the J.S. guy is on the ropes but coming back ... more so chess champion starts complaiing "my scouting planes are getting shot down! Something is wrong!"

3) In a story like Star Wars or Rocky the little guy pulls off a brillant come back! ... The anti-hero is down ...you can not write a better story in my book ..well except in the WWF [;)]

If Cannoerebel were to get kicked out of Sumatra I would reason he took some bad die rolls and would over some consoling .. it is nothing like Greyjoy's thread [8D] I do not think BTW all the advice people have been posting is as much as they think they are better players or what have you .. its everybody wants to be a part of that story .. it is feel good movie for the ages [;)]

Ok back to Festung Sumatra ...[&o] [:D]

Just thinking about this game and the comments in the GJ thread. Is it difficult to keep focus here in what has turned into an incredibly strong position in the DEI? How do you move forward with the same energy and tactical creativity you used to begin the game and finish it as well as it started?

There is a kind of beauty to a risky but considered plan that turns out well. I play for this kind of beauty in games, where things just come together like choreographed dance steps. Sometimes in this game it can get to be a slog when you know it's not in that delicate balance of equal opportunity for both sides.

Just curious about your thoughts on that here, especially after your last game where it was a struggle throughout until the unfortunate ending.

I've been giving my game alot of thought, with fresh perspective inspired by GJ's invasion in his game.  You might be surprised that GJ has inspired me to lower my expectations and to be very careful.
 
Why?  Because it's 1942 in my game, not 1944.  I am in very tight quarters in the DEI, and Chez can, if he so chooses, bring overwhelming ordinance to bear in those tight quarters.
 
He can't reclaim Sumatra at this late date, IMHO, but neither do the Allies have the ability to go on the offensive in a strength-versus-strength match at this early date.
 
So, while keeping an eye out for weakenesses and opportunities to carefully move forward (primarily into southern Borneo), the Allies would be best served right now on building Toboali, Muntok, Billiton Island and Singkep into unassailable fortresses.  I think I can do that with the first three, thanks to their proximity to big Allied airfields at Palembang and Oosthaven, but I can't imagine that Steve will let me keep Singkep, and it's in a difficult place for me to effectively handle. 
 
Elsewhere, the Allies have done a good job in creating tough little redoubts in important places all over the map - Paramushiro, Tarawa, Ocean, Tabituea, Ndeni, Pago Pago, Milne Bay and Port Moresby.  Steve can handle any of these, but there are so many, and they are so scattered, that he's facing a difficult sitaution of which fire does he extinguish first?  And the Allies will continue seeking new little outposts to garrison - Merauke and some of the islands north of Darwin are highest priority.
 
But I don't have the ability at this point to engage in major operations in the Pacific.  I've committed all my troops.  It will be a long time before I have enough reinforcements to engage in something major here.  So, I'm sending alot of my transports to Oz and Capetown, to be in a position to move out of Sumatra in a major way when the time comes.  And if the Allies hold Billiton, Toabali, and Muntok in strength and built up as the year winds down, the next move into Borneo will be under the best possible conditions for success.

That's what I was after, exactly. You are still very focused on improving your position and making things difficult for him across the map. You seem to be continually assessing and reassessing the situation, and it is just this conscious attention to keeping pressure on that I think makes the game difficult as well as exciting.

CR - you have created an unasailable position from which to stage major raids against his shipping, resource production (what he has of it), and ultimately a jumping off point to usurpe his entire position in Southeast Asia.

At this point, you can certainly bide your time, raid like there is no tomorrow, and prepare for the opening of major operations next year.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Ouch!  He rubbed it right in my face! 

But you're right - there's something fascinating about watching a shipwreck in progress.  In part, that's what drew readers to your AAR early on.  In a similar way, it drew readers to my game against Q-Ball, when he nearly conquered India, and to my game vs. John III, when he nearly conquered Oz.  There's just something particularly fascinating about disasters.

I noticed this in my personal life years ago.  I used to be an avid reader of Sports Illustrated.  I enjoyed the articles about the really good teams, but what really interested me were the articles about the teams for whom the wheels had come off.  Reading about the Yankees was okay, but what I really savored were the articles about teams that were on a pace to lose 110 games. 

Like the Royals 4 out of the last 6 years?

Tough time to be a Kansas City sports fan of any stripe. Then again, tough to be a Rangers fan right now, too. [8|] At least my Longhorns sent A&M into the SEC in dagger inserting fashion.

CR, you have transitioned from building up one festung to a sort of North Korean People's Army infiltration style offensive, with your re-occupation of allied held bases in Japan's outer perimeter. Very interesting tactic, IMHO, and likely to bear fruit. It's not invading Hokkaido, but as you say, you're still in 1942.

Indeed, there is something to be said for patience in a game.  When you have a strong position it isn't always necessary to attack.  Let the enemy come to you and impale himself on the spikes of the bulwark.

Ahh, you AFBs. The most valuable weapon in the Big Green Machine's arsenal is the time to think like that! Still, you're right.

My thoughts as an AFB....

Oh I just lost the Lex?... no big deal, I'll get another one in a year or so...

ORIGINAL: jeffk3510

My thoughts as an AFB....

Oh I just lost the Lex?... no big deal, I'll get another one in a year or so...

I will get an Essex Class that is more maneuverable ... [;)]

9/15/42
 
NoPac:  Hiei, Nagato, Kongo and CA Furutaka bombard Para ineffectively.  As long as that troupe is up here, Japan isn't going to invade Sumatra.

CenPac:  Tabituea B-17s managed a hit on an IJ xAK at Nauru Island.

SWPac:  One more day to unload heavy equipment and then the valuable transports can retire from Milne Bay.  A smaller TF is bringing a tank destroyer unit, with E/F Coastal Defense unit about three days out.  No sign of enemy awareness.

DEI:  Recon patrols keep showing just one small enemy unit at Sibolga, the base west of Padang on Sumatra's south coast.  If the Allies managed to recapture that base, it would completely isolate the IJ army at Padang.  Just in case Sibolga remains underprotected, two stout Indian units have begun prep and will report to the main port of embarkation on India's southwest corner.

Burma:  The Japanese have 1250 AV at Magwe facing 750 for the Allies.  I expect a probing attack any day now.