Notes from a Small Island

[Canoerebel]

Zoiks! Imagine that, I made typo number 27,816 in this AAR: "Several hundred elite Allied fighter squadrons..." That could happen only in a Dan III Really, Really, Really Reluctant Admiral mod.

[jwolf]

That could happen only in a Dan III Really, Really, Really Reluctant Admiral mod.

[:D][:D] Yeah, if that doesn't make him reluctant, I don't know what would.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Zoiks! Imagine that, I made typo number 27,816 in this AAR: "Several hundred elite Allied fighter squadrons..." That could happen only in a Dan III Really, Really, Really Reluctant Admiral mod.

[:D]
Pointing out those typos all the time is nitpicking for you, but do you really want us to praise every correctly typed phrase? [&o]

I think not! [;)]

[Canoerebel]

I catch most of my typos, but only after I make my posts. Unfortunately, about 60% of them are embedded in Paint illustrations, and Paint is an incredibly bad platform for editing. Incredibly. Bad. Platform.

[Canoerebel]

And I love it when folks occasionally point out typos. I think there's wonderful irony that I make so many of them, when I make my living writing and editing.

[Lecivius]

Wasn't trying to be rude [;)] I just thought it was...overwhelming [:D]

[Canoerebel]

Not rude at all. It came across as lighthearted humor perfectly time, place and presented.

[Canoerebel]

3/21/45 and 3/22/45

NoPac: After a brief lull, things are about to get busy up here again. The Allies have three major tasks to accomplish in the next two weeks - invasions of Onnekotan and Shikotan and retrieval of balance of big army at Kushiro. Then it will be time for The Next Next Big Thing.

After many months of campaigning basically non-stop, Death Star is in remarkable condition. None of this ships need time at the pier, except CV Victorious, which took one kamikaze hit and has 16 SYS damage.

This, to me, is the remarkable payoff for not using the Allied carriers at flank speed or anything close. By employing them in a tight perimeter, seldom moving more than three or four hexes in a turn, the carriers don't accumulate any damage whatsoever. I may be making much ado about something that all player's experience, but to me it has been a revelation in this game and my last, in which Allied carriers went to sea and remained there, essentially non-stop, for a year or more (in my game with John III, it was basically a year and a half).

There are times and places for flank speed runs, but being able to maintain the pace of operations at the heart of things, in Indian country, is of utmost importance to pursuing my plan.

[RangerJoe]

Since it appears that the KB is not around the Home Islands, you might want to try something a little risky. If you can determine where the naval search around the area is, send in a "radar warning" DD task force where they would be detected and a naval strike launched against them. Have the DS loaded with fighters and only a few ASW aircraft and have the DS 1 hex away but not in the detection range. Have the CAP with a range of 1, with the lower quality aircraft set low to shoot down any torpedo bombers. With or without high speed bombardment runs by 2 DD task forces against Sapporo/Buhiro, maybe with Battleships and cruisers against Buhiro. If you can trip a naval strike against the radar warning pickets, you might be able to gut the strike packages with relatively small loss and give your transport task forces some breathing time before his naval airstrike squadrons get rebuilt.

Remember, the mice play while the cat is away and the cows party until the farmer comes home.

Joe

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Since it appears that the KB is not around the Home Islands, you might want to try something a little risky. If you can determine where the naval search around the area is, send in a "radar warning" DD task force where they would be detected and a naval strike launched against them. Have the DS loaded with fighters and only a few ASW aircraft and have the DS 1 hex away but not in the detection range. Have the CAP with a range of 1, with the lower quality aircraft set low to shoot down any torpedo bombers. With or without high speed bombardment runs by 2 DD task forces against Sapporo/Buhiro, maybe with Battleships and cruisers against Buhiro. If you can trip a naval strike against the radar warning pickets, you might be able to gut the strike packages with relatively small loss and give your transport task forces some breathing time before his naval airstrike squadrons get rebuilt.

Remember, the mice play while the cat is away and the cows party until the farmer comes home.

Joe

Cows Party? What with, milk shakes?[8|]
Not sure how you can accomplish having DS one hex away from "detection" when Emilys and other LR aircraft are available to the Japanese. A few DDs might only be detected when they get relatively close to Japan but CVs are easily spotted a long way out.

[Canoerebel]

Erik is on vacation for a few weeks, so no posts until probably around New Years.

[BillBrown]

Oops, I think you got this post in the wrong thread Dan.

[Canoerebel]

Redacted. Thanks, Bill Brown.

[RangerJoe]

He might not have his search aircraft flying that far so they don't get shot down. Simply check the DL on the subs to see where there are searches.

[Canoerebel]

3/24/45

Erik has returned from a long trip halfway around the world. He was gone long enough (two weeks), that I've lost my rhythm. I know the major things going on but I don't know which aircraft squadrons were hot, which were tired, which bombing targets seemed unlikely to be defended, etc. It'll take awhile to nudge the rhythm back into place.

NoPac: Two big bombardment TFs targeted Onnekotan on the eve of the invasion. Tomorrow, 1st Marine Div. goes in, along with two arty units. That's not much, but I'm hoping that supplies will be low, disruption high, and that frequent bombardments will be enough. When Onnekotan falls - could be a few days, could be weeks - I'll turn my attention to Shikotan, which is lightly defended. There will also be a reinforcing landing at Paramushiro. Then, in ten days or so, I'll proceed with the big withdrawal from Kushiro, the final step before The Next Next Big Thing.

Japan: Weather prevented a manpower strike on Sapporo. I'll try again next turn.

Bay of Bengal: Allied ships and aircraft are making noise, mainly to continue tickling Erik's interest in this region.

[Canoerebel]

3/25/45

NoPac: The Allied invasion of Onnekotan goes well, beginning with strong bombardments and ending with 1st Marine Div. coming ashore in good shape. The enemy garrison is weak enough that the invasion may be sufficient as is. That would be a big help to the timetable.

Allied 4EB of Sapporo at night is an abject failure, with about 15 bombers downed for modest hits. Erik had a decent number of night fightes up - Irvings, Nicks, and Franceses.

The critical matter is the underlying preparation for the pending invasion of Shikotan, withdrawl of troops from Kushiro, and The Next Next Big Thing. THere's a tremendous amount of activity in NoPac devoted to these things and it's coming together well.

[Canoerebel]

3/26/45 to 3/30/45

NoPac: The Allies are making progress in reducing the remaining enemy holdings in the Kuriles.

Points: Enemy lead is under 5k. Barring a big battle, this probably won't change markedly until The Next Next Big Thing, which I think should unhinge the entire enemy MLR and create abundant opportunities. TNNBT really is the endgame operation, although new ideas and opportunities will crop up until the game does end, which will be a long time from now.

[CaptBeefheart]

TNNBT: I'm going to keep beating a dead horse and bet on "Korea" one more time. Anyway, can't wait to see what sort of devious operation you have in the cards.

Happy New Year, by the way.

Cheers,
CB

[Canoerebel]

Happy New year to you, also, Mr. Beefheart.

[BillBrown]

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

TNNBT: I'm going to keep beating a dead horse and bet on "Korea" one more time. Anyway, can't wait to see what sort of devious operation you have in the cards.

Happy New Year, by the way.

Cheers,
CB

You mean you don't think he will land in Tokyo? [:)]